How to travel as a Dual Citizen??

My kids have dual citizenship. Their use their European passport only when arriving in Europe and while travelling in Europe. But if we don't take the European passport along there is absolutely no issue just using the other one while in Europe.

My daughter has dual citizenship too. The answer from the American consulate is that if we are traveling to and from the US, she should use her American passport. We do bring her German one with us, but we don't show it unless someone wants to get weird about why she doesn't have a residency permit or "entry into Germany" stamp in her pass.

So, travel back and forth to the US with your American pass, but once you are here, go ahead and use your Spanish one if you like. You can get through the lines quicker. :-))

My husband has a Canadian and an E.U. passport. He uses the Cdn one to exit and enter Canada and the E.U. one at any E.U. entry passport control. This is only because the E.U. passport control queues are shorter when arriving from N. America and I tag along in the same queue.

For the airline, enter your U.S. passport number when you buy the ticket and use that at the counter.

When you go through passport control in Spain, you should use the EU line and show your Spanish passport.

When you return to the U.S., you should show use U.S. line and show your U.S. passport.

William,

Recommend that you exit and return at the US border using the same passport. I also recommend that you enter and exit Spain using the same passport.

This should help minimize the chance of being pulled aside for trying to cross a border under a different ID than what you did previously.

Edwin

PS - This assums that security actually checks these things at the borders you are crossing.

"Use the foreign passport when entering or leaving your own country. "

The OP is a dual citizen, which means that neither is a "foreign" passport and BOTH the US and Spain are his "own country". Several previous posters have already given the proper advice - use the US one when leaving the US, the Spanish one when arriving in Spain and leaving Spain, and the US one entering the US.

Thank you Steve for clarifying what every other poster has written in case the OP couldn't understand these posts.

And for once again editing his post to remove his original statements so that my post makes no sense. His post before "editing for clarity" advised the OP to use the US passport when entering and leaving the US and the "foreign" passport for entering and leaving "your own country".

Thank you all for your answers.....I got it... when leaving and entering the USA I will use my US passport and when entering Spain use my Spanish passport...

Barcelona here I come :):)

Thanks for asking this question. I'm using my dual citizenship and passports for the first time in a couple of weeks. The difference is it's not for travel. I'm going to grad school in London and will be living there for a year. I was planning to use my US passport to leave, use my German one when I enter England and any other country I travel to while abroad, and then use my US one when I return at the end of the program. Considering the US, Germany, and UK all recognize dual citizenship I hope it's a smooth ride. I worried that neither of my passports will be stamped, but I guess if anyone gives me any problems I should just produce the other one?

Looking for answers and found this: http://www.newcitizen.us/dual.html Sounds like what everyone already said. It's especially good to know which passport to show the airline. I probably would have shown my US instead of my German, but I will now show my German.

And here's more: http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html

A tangent for German dual-citizens: German law mirrors the American requirement to use "their" passport, i.e. if you enter Germany you'll have to show your German passport, see Paßgesetz §1 sentence one.
Failure to do so is an infraction punishable with a fine up to 5000 euro (Paßgesetz §24 (3)1 and (4)).

I also am privileged to have 2 passports. As others have said, you should always use the US passport when crossing a US border and you should always use the Spanish one when crossing a Spanish border. This is after you have checked in for your flight, when you go through Passport Control. Sometimes airlines will ask to see your second passport when you check in, to make sure you are legally entitled to enter the destination country. When you leave the US, they will assume you are allowed entry to Spain on your US passport so they won't ask for the Spanish one. But when you leave Spain, they won't see a visa in your Spanish passport, so they will ask if you have another one. Other than that, I use whichever passport is convenient. On one trip, my US passport was being renewed so I used the Israeli one for my Chinese visa (needed in advance) but used the US one (my next destination) for the Australian visa, because it was cheaper. In my experience it doesn't matter which passport you use to book flights, hotels, etc. Just keep them both handy.

I have quite some experience with the issue due to the (extended) family having 3 nationalities (I myself have 2). The golden rule is: if you are a citizen of a country, you will ALWAYS be treated as one (legally) when you are in that country, and should always use your the documents (passport) of a country you are a citizen of when entering/exiting that country. Treaties extend the legal treatment of citizens to other European countries within the Union in a variety of ways. Practical rule: after boarding an international plane in US, pack your passport and use your European passport, enter EU as European etc. In most cases, you are exempt of having to buy travel health insurance, or use your US insurer, should you need treatment or hospitalization. IMPORTANT (very)
Many European countries have far more stringent controls of children being taken outside EU if both parents, indicated on the children's passport, are not present. This doesn't depend even, depending on the country (Italy, for instance) on what passport the children are using. There is a small, but non-negligible risk, that children who are citizens of an European country would not be allowed to be taken home to US without length (=hours) enquirer should both legal parents be not present. Some countries integrate their civil registration with border police, a concept strange to most Americans. So, if you have children, and they are travelling not with both parents, contact the embassy/consulate and bring documentation that will not make you miss the flight back while they establish you are not a children smuggler or a parent hijacking the child from the other.

I have now travelled several times to Spain using my Spanish passport and it very simple. At the airline counter I show my US passport as ID. When I arrive in Spain.... at passport control I use my Spanish passport. When I leave Spain and I'm getting my ticket at the airline counter I use my US, but at the passport control I use my Spanish passport. It fact on my 1st trip when leaving Spain I incorrectly gave passport control my US passport and he was looking for the "stamp", of course there was no stamp since I used my Spanish passport to get into Spain. He simply asked me if I have another passport I just showed him the Spanish one and was allowed to proceed.

US rules state that if your travel begins and ends in the US, you must use your US passport upon departure from the US and upon reentry to the US. When arriving in the EU you may use either passport - go through Spanish customs (or wheverer you enter the EU) using your Spain passport. There will be a special line for EU citizens.

Thank you for your help! I used my German passport the whole way through on my flight out to England and had no problems whatsoever. No stamps either. Hope it's just as smooth when I return to the US (using my US passport of course).