Dual Ireland/USA Citizenship and UK ETS VISA

i recently bought a ticket from the US to the UK. No place was I asked about an ETS.

There is nothing to get for an ETS. You don't show anything. It is tied to your passport. So, if you use your Irish passport when you arrive, you won't need an ETS.

Thank you Frank.
I wasn't sure whether:
a. the airline would deny me boarding the flight to the UK based on having my US Passport in my flight record (Required with my US Citizenship) or
b. The UK would deny me entering the country at immigration based on what was entered into the flight record.

Some countries are shared these records to pre-screen arrivals. I figured that I would be ok with bringing both passports so I would use the Irish Passport for entry without the ETS at UK Immigration...but wanted to make sure.

The UK will have your US passport information on the flight. It may cause a problem with the egates. But you won't have any problem actually entering with your Irish passport once an officer sees it.

This happened to me last year. I was denied entry at the egates, saw an officer which is a separate area near the egates and not the regular line, and was told there was a glitch with the passport information the airline gave them. But I was good to go. It added about 3 minutes to immigration.

The UK has a page about their ETS Visa...which from my reading shows I don't need one as a dual citizen

Does your reading also reveal to you that it’s not a visa?

You won't have any problem at the UK border - you show your Irish passport and you're in.

You might get queried at the departing gate about why you don't have an ETA linked to your US passport - I guess at that point show them the Irish passport and you should/will be OK

let us know how it goes....

Or you could just apply for an ETA against your US passport and use that to travel saving you the worry about the airline denying you boarding, entering and exiting the US and UK etc. You're simply making it more complicated than it needs to be all for the sake of £10.

I'd agree that just spending the £10 every 2 years would save worry.

And, for clarity - there is no ETS - that sounds close to what the world has to get to travel to the USA - it is ETA; and it is NOT a visa - it is a travel authorization. If where you are reading either calls it a visa or an ETS you are not on the official government app or website and risk losing your money. £10 (or its USA equivalent on the day) and done in a matter of seconds or minutes...

I have travelled on two passports for many years. It doesn't really matter what passport info you give when you book the flight (tho I would use your Irish one in this case) what matters is the passport info you give when you check in. When you check in for your flight to the UK, use your Irish passport info. When you check in for your flight back to the US, use your US passport info. I have never had an issue doing this. Good luck!

Edited to add: In case you weren't aware, if you are a US citizen it is illegal for you to enter the US on a non US passport.

Cat is correct, and there is absolutely no need for you to get an ETA, as you don't need one.

And an ETA is not a visa - if you have a visa for the UK, you don't need an ETA.

I have the same concern with having a US/UK dual citizenship. I have a trip planned for March. UK Gov. states with a valid and current UK passport you do not have to have the ETA. However, as you have to travel to and from the US on your US passport and the airline has only one passport info in the details in the airline profile, it made me a little nervous that I would have potential issues boarding. In order to ease my own anxiety, I just went ahead and completed the ETA. during the process it does ask if you have another citizenship which of course I checked British. Its was $12.00 and it was automatically approved within 3 minutes. Now I have peace of mind.

Why don't you contact the British Embassy or Consulate rather than rely on the responses through this site? Or just get the ETS and hang the expense!

All,

Thank you for you opinions. I actually got the information I was looking for when I brought up this topic (See My Question Text) from Frank II in the 1st 2 answers. I figured since this ETA program has been going a month someone would have had a similiar situation as mine (Coming Up) and be able to provide me an answer to my question...and they did.

Despite some assumming I hadn't contacted the British Embassy or Consulate...I had prior to posting. Additionally I contacted the US State Department and American Airlines directly. The contact option for the British Embassy I saw was of an automated type I think responded to by AI so for my specific question it did not have an answer. I saw no direct way to get to a person on this topic to get a more nuanced answer for my specific concern. The US State Department referred me to the British Embassy and the airline didn't know. Not surprising because the program is new and this specific situation of which passport to use and/or what will happen when I get to the UK was not yet known to the airline agent I spoke to.

To those who suggested just buying the ETA...I certainly had considered that but since reading the British BTA website information showed that a dual Irish/American citizen didn't need an ETA my thought is why do that purchase. Wouldn't it be better to just find out how the process (Which is new) worked in more detail. From Frank II I have found that out. If It were closer to my travel or I didn't find the answer Frank provided I was ready to go through the ETA purchase process.

Also...I thought this question might be helpful to other Dual Citizens of Ireland/US traveling from the US as there are many of them and probably a decent number that will be going to the United Kingdom.

Last...I thought this question might filter to the United Kingdom agency in charge of this BTA program so they could add the detail on how to handle dual citizen passports with the airlines AND/OR what the process would be in the UK when you step off the plane (IE...per frank you just need to have your Irish Passport handy to give to Immigration to pass through without the ETA and you will not get to use the Egates) to their FAQ.

Let me just reiterate something.....go to the egates first. They might work for you.

If not, there is a separate Border Force booth just for those who can't get the egates to work. This rarely takes any time. Don't automatically go to the regular non-egates line as you may wait forever unnecessarily.

I hope I made myself understood.

Frank II Thanks again. I appreciate your information and I will try the Egates first. You outlined the process and potential inconvenices and remedies to these and I do appreciate that. It was exactly what I was looking for.