travel help Two Passports, Two Names - Russia/USA

[RussianBrit 0]

I have a complex travel issue I was hoping someone could help me with. I am a dual citizen of Russia (was born there) and the UK (moved there in 1996), but I live and study in the USA on an F1 visa. I want to travel to Russia in August 2018, but my Russian and British passports are under different names due to naturalization in the UK. I was planning to go via Turkey, so that I could leave the US and enter Turkey on my British passport and then travel from Turkey to Russia and back on my Russian passport because no visas are needed between the latter two countries. My questions are:

 

1. When a Russian citizen leaves Russia for Turkey is their zagran passport stamped with an exit stamp? (i.e. if I try to enter Russia from Turkey but do not have a stamp that says I left Russia in the first place, will they detain me?)

2. If I enter Turkey from the USA on my Russian passport instead of the British one, when I return to the US will the authorities there look for an entry stamp in my passport to indicate where I had been? Could I at that point show them my Russian passport to show that I used that document to enter Turkey instead of my British passport? Would they accept this scenario?

3. Is there any better way for me to go about this journey? Bear in mind that by Russian law I cannot enter or exit Russia on my British passport: I am not allowed to get a Visa but have to travel on valid Russian documents in and out of the country.

 

Thank you.

[payxibka 10,045]

24 minutes ago, RussianBrit said:

I have a complex travel issue I was hoping someone could help me with. I am a dual citizen of Russia (was born there) and the UK (moved there in 1996), but I live and study in the USA on an F1 visa. I want to travel to Russia in August 2018, but my Russian and British passports are under different names due to naturalization in the UK. I was planning to go via Turkey, so that I could leave the US and enter Turkey on my British passport and then travel from Turkey to Russia and back on my Russian passport because no visas are needed between the latter two countries. My questions are:

 

1. When a Russian citizen leaves Russia for Turkey is their zagran passport stamped with an exit stamp? (i.e. if I try to enter Russia from Turkey but do not have a stamp that says I left Russia in the first place, will they detain me?)

2. If I enter Turkey from the USA on my Russian passport instead of the British one, when I return to the US will the authorities there look for an entry stamp in my passport to indicate where I had been? Could I at that point show them my Russian passport to show that I used that document to enter Turkey instead of my British passport? Would they accept this scenario?

3. Is there any better way for me to go about this journey? Bear in mind that by Russian law I cannot enter or exit Russia on my British passport: I am not allowed to get a Visa but have to travel on valid Russian documents in and out of the country.

 

Thank you.

Are you going to enter Turkey or just transit?

[RussianBrit 0]

2 hours ago, payxibka said:

Are you going to enter Turkey or just transit?

I wasn’t planning on entering Turkey as I would not be able to transit with multiple passports and tickets under different names.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

when i changed planes in Turkey, i went thru customs but they did not stamp my passport as i was not staying

 

[RussianBrit 0]

My sibling proposed a solution that I think will work, so I’m posting it here in case this is helpful for others with an a similar problem. I’d love to know if anyone can see a flaw in the plan:

 

1. Buy return tickets from USA to Turkey under British name (let’s say Irina Smith). 

2. Leave USA under British passport, BUT enter Turkey on Russian passport under the Russian name (let’s say Irina Zaiskaya). This way you get a Turkish entry stamp in the Russian passport. Authorities do not check airline tickets on entry to a country, so there should be no problem using a different passport to enter Turkey than the passport used to leave USA.

3. Leave Turkey to go to Russia on Russian passport and on airplane tickets that match the Russian name of Irina Zaiskaya.

4. Leave Russia to go back to Turkey on Russian passport, BUT enter Turkey on British passport of Irina Smith, thus getting a Turkish entry stamp in the British passport. Make sure that have the required Turkish e-visa in advance to allow for entry as a Brit. 

5. Travel back from Turkey to USA on British name Irina Smith, leaving the former country and entering the latter nation on the same British passport.

 

This way should avoid any questions and will ensure entry stamps are properly available for all legs of the journey and that names on tickets and passports all match. 

 

What do you all think?

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

when i changed planes in Turkey, i went thru customs but they did not stamp my passport as i was not staying

 

You may have been re-screened but you did not go through passport control or customs.

 

Transfer Passengers:(International Transfer Passengers With An International Connection Flight) A boarding card is issued for the passenger (if not issued in the country of origin) at the transit desk of the relevant handling company on the Arrivals floor. The passenger does not go through passport control. Instead, he/she directly proceeds through the transit area into the International Departures area. Baggage will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

2 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

when i changed planes in Turkey, i went thru customs but they did not stamp my passport as i was not staying

 

Are you sure?

Going thru security during a layover is different than going thru customs. Security might look at pp\boarding pass but that's about it. 

[Ontarkie 14,221]

~~Moved to the RUB forum, from Tourist Visas - As the OP is in the US with an F1 and is traveling to Russia~~

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Transit in Istanbul definitely does not involve going through customs. I don’t even remember them looking at my passport, though it’s quite possible there was a security check where they did, but definitely did not go through passport control at the border and most certainly not customs.

[tanderson64 201]

On 12/30/2017 at 12:33 PM, RussianBrit said:

Authorities do not check airline tickets on entry to a countr

Last time I entered Moscow, Russia, the border agent asked me for my ticket stub and it appeared he compared my name to my visa.  This was the only time this has happened to me in 3 trips to Moscow.

Edited January 5, 2018 by tanderson64

[OutOfThisWorld 87]

1. Russian passports indeed get stamped with an exit stamp every time the holder leaves the country. For a while Russia border agents used to not care where you were going, but that changed recently. Be prepared to explain where you are going, and why, and also to show other passports.

 

There is a whole other issue of mandatory registration of any other citizenships that Russian citizens may have. Which I do not know if they check or not at the border.

 

2. The US authorities may ask you where you have been, but they do not require passport stamps from other countries.

 

3. I do not think adding Turkey to the mix changes anything for you. You can go strait between US and Russia, just as well. US border agents do not care about your Russian passport, as a rule of thumb (unless you get pulled for secondary, then everything on you will be closely examined). Russian border agents now do care about your other passports (on exiting the country), but start with your Russian passport first, and do not fling any other documents until asked.

 

P.S. You do not have a dual citizenship. You have two citizenships.

 

P.S.S. The airlines may need to see all your passports; that is different from border agents.

 

P.S.S.S. Why do you have different names? You may be required to show a document substantiating the name change (such as marriage certificate).