VISA FEE AVOIDANCE!

[titiung 4]

Serious question here. I'm dual citizen US and Vietnam. Is it possible to avoid any visa fees by using both passports? US passport and Vietnam Passport.

 

Example: From US traveling to VN, I'll use US passport. Then to enter Vietnam at the Vietnamese entry point, I'll use my Vietnam passport.

 

Then to leave Vietnam, I'll use Vietnamese Passport, and when I retun to US entry point, I'll use US passport.

 

Please let me know my logic skill is still there!

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

A quick search of VJ of similar topics seems to conclude:

1. You need the US passport to enter the US upon your return.

2. You can enter other countries with either of your passports, whichever suits your needs best.

[titiung 4]

1 minute ago, Russ&Caro said:

A quick search of VJ of similar topics seems to conclude:

1. You need the US passport to enter the US upon your return.

2. You can enter other countries with either of your passports, whichever suits your needs best.

So when I return to US they don't really care where I went? They dont check anything else other than stamping to confirm my return?

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

1 minute ago, titiung said:

So when I return to US they don't really care where I went? They dont check anything else other than stamping to confirm my return?

There was a brief discussion of this in the Russian thread. Sounds like immigration officers don't really make much of an effort to check the stamps of countries you have visited. Don't know if that is exactly true.

 

German thread:

Russian thread:

 

[Alabamak1 688]

i am dual citizen as well. my birth country does not allow for entry with a different passport if you are currently a citizenship from there. You could get fined, but people still do it. What you are trying to do is absolutely allowed. Now, if you had Global entry when you come back...and for some reason you misplaced your US-passport during the flight.....you can use your Vietnamese passport to enter the US, as long as both passports are valid and in their sistem I was told by CBP.  

 

The US does care where you went, but more for security reasons. Just because you left your US passport and didn't use it to enter let's say China...they would wanna know in the case for applications for Global entry and such. Even for background purposes also. I was with my non-US passport in Russia, since USC need visa to go there....and still need to declare this when i get asked at CBP for renewing my GE. 

[kris&me 572]

if you buy the ticket in one itinerary (not one to there and a deperate one to here) then you will use one of them at first airport to get boarding pass and board

that same passport will be asked for at remaining airports when u change planes as in the computer from airport u debarked from

[WandY 430]

You're trying to save a few bucks by gaming the system? Why? VN visas are relatively cheap. Having dual citizenship is not a super-savers card for getting around visa fees. Can you do it? Probably. By why risk getting delayed because you were too cheap to buy a visa?

[aaron2020 11,651]

20 hours ago, titiung said:

Serious question here. I'm dual citizen US and Vietnam. Is it possible to avoid any visa fees by using both passports? US passport and Vietnam Passport.

 

Example: From US traveling to VN, I'll use US passport. Then to enter Vietnam at the Vietnamese entry point, I'll use my Vietnam passport.

 

Then to leave Vietnam, I'll use Vietnamese Passport, and when I retun to US entry point, I'll use US passport.

 

Please let me know my logic skill is still there!

Perfectly fine to do this.

 

US citizens are required to use US passports to enter the US.  Doesn't matter if they have other citizenships.

 

Lots of Vietnamese and US dual citizens do exactly what you do.  

[aaron2020 11,651]

8 minutes ago, WandY said:

You're trying to save a few bucks by gaming the system? Why? VN visas are relatively cheap. Having dual citizenship is not a super-savers card for getting around visa fees. Can you do it? Probably. By why risk getting delayed because you were too cheap to buy a visa?

How is he gaming the system??????

 

You have no idea what it means to be a dual citizen.  It means visa free travel to countries where he is a citizen.  

 

Why the hell would a Vietnamese citizen need a Vietnamese visa to enter Vietnam?

 

Get your facts straight before accusing people of gaming the system.  

[titiung 4]

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate all of your responses!

[kid1412 62]

8 hours ago, titiung said:

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate all of your responses!

It’s perfectly fine brother (or sister). I am dual citizen of both Vietnam and US as well. I traveled using both passports 4-5 times in the last year alone. I entered and exited Vietnam via both Saigon and Hanoi and came back to the US through multiple POEs such as Dallas, Denver and Chicago on those trips and absolutely no issue whatsoever. 

 

On your way to Vietnam, the US doesn’t do exit stamp so the only thing you need to do is give your Vietnamese passport to the airline agent when you check in becuase they need to make sure you can enter Vietnam. Upon entering Vietnam, of course you need to give them your Vietnamese passport at immigration. 3 out of 4 times, they just stamped it and gave it back to me. One time the guy asked me where I came from and I just said whatever flight I arrived on “ANA flight 242 from Narita” or whatever and he stamped it and said “welcome home”.

 

On your way to the US, you do the reverse, with a twist. So you give the airline agent your US passport so they can verify you can enter the US. However, when you go through the exit immigration, you give the immigration guy the Vietnamese passport because it has your entry stamp. They never asked me anything, just stamped it exit and you’ll be on your way. Then you of course give the CBP agent your US passport upon entering the US. They also never asked anything, they just checked their computer (presumably to authenticate the passport) and said “welcome home” as well.

 

So that’s how it’s done. The rule of thump if you have multiple passports is to always use the passport of your contry of destination, exept when the country has an exit check then you gotta use whatever passport you enter with to exit on. 

[kid1412 62]

I forgot to mention that CBP won’t stamp your US passport upon entry because you’re US citizen. Your US passport will have no stamp.