Exiting the US with two passports - recording i94 exit date properly

[JeanneAdil 6,488]

what type of US visa?

[kiwibean 45]

Ugh, I got caught in this.  I now always try to show them my US passport when leaving the country, but it doesn't always work.  I'm a dual citizen, and was pulled into secondary screening at immigration coming back into the US, because I had used my NZ passport.  I assume it must have been leaving the US?  Because I can't see that NZ immigration was sharing information with them about which passport I entered NZ on.  They told me I had to ALWAYS use my US passport to travel.

 

(Best part about this - my kids were both with me.  My son was about 7.  We're sitting in the very quiet room with all the detained people.  No one was allowed to use electronics, so my kids are just looking around the room.  My son asks me, quite loudly "Mom, what's sexual assault?"  Thank you to the poster that told you who to call if the immigration officer sexually assaulted you!)

[OldUser 6,599]

45 minutes ago, kiwibean said:

Ugh, I got caught in this.  I now always try to show them my US passport when leaving the country, but it doesn't always work.  I'm a dual citizen, and was pulled into secondary screening at immigration coming back into the US, because I had used my NZ passport.  I assume it must have been leaving the US?  Because I can't see that NZ immigration was sharing information with them about which passport I entered NZ on.  They told me I had to ALWAYS use my US passport to travel.

 

(Best part about this - my kids were both with me.  My son was about 7.  We're sitting in the very quiet room with all the detained people.  No one was allowed to use electronics, so my kids are just looking around the room.  My son asks me, quite loudly "Mom, what's sexual assault?"  Thank you to the poster that told you who to call if the immigration officer sexually assaulted you!)

Which passport did you use to check in for the flight into US?

 

This info is shared with CBP

[randomstairs 303]

On 11/8/2024 at 9:18 AM, OldUser said:

Which passport did you use to check in for the flight into US?

 

This info is shared with CBP

Sounds like she used her NZ passport when leaving NZ and showed the US passport when entering the US. She also might had left the US with the NZ passport being used for checking-in/buying the ticket. This method is recommended by many dual citizens, but I've always been skeptical about it. The problem arises when buying a round trip from the US to the country of second citizenship. I blame the airlines. 

 

This problem is even more exposed when traveling between a third country and the country of non-US citizenship. 

I've been using my US passport everywhere, including the EU, where I have the other citizenship. I often travel to Japan and, ofc, use the US passport to enter. However, with the new EU electronic authorization rule, airlines will demand to see if I'm authorized to enter the EU (from Japan). Using a different passport when leaving Japan could easily create an overstay there, so that's not an option. If worse comes to worse, I'll travel to the EU via a land border port of entry, excluding the annoying airlines from the process. 

 

Also, for anyone who may be interested: Using the non-US passport may make it difficult to obtain a TS security clearance if you're applying for certain gov positions. 

Edited November 9 by randomstairs

[OldUser 6,599]

25 minutes ago, randomstairs said:

I often travel to Japan and, ofc, use the US passport to enter. However, with the new EU electronic authorization rule, airlines will demand to see if I'm authorized to enter the EU (from Japan). Using a different passport when leaving Japan could easily create an overstay there, so that's not an option.

 

Why not enter Japan on EU passport?

Then you don't have issue exiting Japan on EU passport travelling to EU.

[Lemonslice 4,830]

2 hours ago, randomstairs said:

Sounds like she used her NZ passport when leaving NZ and showed the US passport when entering the US. She also might had left the US with the NZ passport being used for checking-in/buying the ticket. This method is recommended by many dual citizens, but I've always been skeptical about it. The problem arises when buying a round trip from the US to the country of second citizenship. I blame the airlines. 

 

This problem is even more exposed when traveling between a third country and the country of non-US citizenship. 

I've been using my US passport everywhere, including the EU, where I have the other citizenship. I often travel to Japan and, ofc, use the US passport to enter. However, with the new EU electronic authorization rule, airlines will demand to see if I'm authorized to enter the EU (from Japan). Using a different passport when leaving Japan could easily create an overstay there, so that's not an option. If worse comes to worse, I'll travel to the EU via a land border port of entry, excluding the annoying airlines from the process. 

 

Also, for anyone who may be interested: Using the non-US passport may make it difficult to obtain a TS security clearance if you're applying for certain gov positions. 

 

For Japan, you can present your EU, or both, passports at check-in (to the airline employee, to justify how you will enter EU). Then, you present ONLY the passport you used to enter Japan to the exit border control agent.  I had to do this more than once when traveling with multiple passports.  

[randomstairs 303]

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

 

Why not enter Japan on EU passport?

Then you don't have issue exiting Japan on EU passport travelling to EU.

I could try that the next time. When I check-in in the US I always use the US passport (that's my understanding of the law), so I fill in the Japanese immigration form with the same pp number. 

[randomstairs 303]

2 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

 

For Japan, you can present your EU, or both, passports at check-in (to the airline employee, to justify how you will enter EU). Then, you present ONLY the passport you used to enter Japan to the exit border control agent.  I had to do this more than once when traveling with multiple passports.  

Yes, that's exactly what I plan to do. I wasn't sure if it could work, so it's good to hear from someone with a first hand experience.

[Lemonslice 4,830]

33 minutes ago, randomstairs said:

Yes, that's exactly what I plan to do. I wasn't sure if it could work, so it's good to hear from someone with a first hand experience.

The trick is to remember that airline check in is to make sure you can enter your destination, they do not look into how you entered your current location.  Countries with border exit control will want to see the document(s) you used to enter.   

 

Also best to only show what is necessary to not confuse them.