Messed Up with Gibraltar Stamp

I don't think anyone will care! Some EU border guards might care, but since you'll use your Polish passport in the EU, it is a moot point. Every once in a while, there were illegible stamps in my passport, and it never caused concern.

In today’s travel world it’s common to enter a country and not get an entry stamp. If anybody asks, just explain you went to Gibraltar. I don’t understand the reason for using different passports to enter and depart countries. It shouldn’t be an issue.

Obviously, the mistake you made was switching passports. A dual passport person has to use some care, and follow the rules, which are basically, always use your "home" passport to leave and enter your home country, use the second passport when entering and leaving the country of issue, or in the case of a member Schengen or EU country, that passport if they are a member. For third party countries, using the most advantageous passport is allowed, but most immigration people would prefer you using the passport where you are resident. (fewer questions)

Now, will it cause problems? Who knows. First, the stamps in the passport are meaningless for the most part, helpful, but not much more. The scan is more troublesome. The piece of information you are missing is: Who operates the border checkpoint? I doubt one guy has authority from both Spain and Gibraltar, and the ability to enforce laws of both countries. I can believe that a UK border agent might stamp a Spain exit stamp as a courtesy, with the scan being a UK entry scan, but I frankly have no clue.

In general though, the exit thing from the Schengen area is of no concern, you will use your Polish passport anyway, and third party countries would never have the information.

However, if that was a UK entry scan, then yes, it could be a problem if you were to fly to London and use your Canadian passport, since it might show you already "in-country" and overstayed by a long shot...but as I recall, the UK really has no "exit" immigration, so maybe no problem.

Because I was entering Gibraltar, i.e., UK territory, I thought it would be wise to use my Canadian passport again — since I had used it for the UK a few months ago.

What? I don't get special US treatment from the UK as a former colonial subject ... In fact, my Americanski wife has been questioned heavily at a UK entry because she has a vaguely Irish name.

The other mistake you made was not thinking about how your were leaving the EU to enter the UK. Many years ago, it was quite common for the US Immigration to not bother to stamp US passports coming in at airports in the US. Today, they are much more reliable.

You don't say if you have previous experience in Canada entries (I mean, going home from abroad) to know whether they sometimes don't bother to stamp you in? I think that as long as you have the Polish passport in your pocket, in case Canada asks you to prove that you left the EU legally.

But honestly, you made a horrible, naive mistake in today's world. The EU is quite protective, and you could have trouble with them before you get home. I doubt that Canada cares that much, since you have a Canadian passport. Whether or not you were thinking about short lines for "EU Passport" turnstiles at airports, you should have made a decision for the entire trip's duration.

But honestly, you made a horrible, naive mistake in today's world. The EU is quite protective, and you could have trouble with them before you get home.

“Horrible, naive mistake”….? It was an honest mistake….

I only did it because I wanted to be consistent and proper. Because I had entered the UK just a couple months ago as a Canadian, I wanted to enter “the UK” (Gibraltar) as a Canadian again and not on a different nationality. I assumed this was the correct move, obviously it was not.

Why would the Import Passport control in Gibraltar give you an EXIT SPAIN stamp? Wouldn't it be SPANISH Export Border control/passport control that did it?

Regardless, I wouldn't worry. I have ZERO stamps in my US passport for my trip to London in 2019, all electronic.

I imagine something like an expat/dual national group on Facebook would be a better place to ask this rather specific question.

This forum has lots of great travel advice, but likely very few folks familiar with the technical workings of being a dual passport holder.

This is not a problem.

Your Polish passport gets you into the Schengen area no questions asked for the rest of your life.

You present your Canadian passport to enter another country, say for example Thailand, why would they be concerned about an exit stamp from Spain. All the Thai authorities are interested in is that you have the correct documentation to enter Thailand and you are not on the run from Interpol. The UK is not interested as long as you have a valid passport, whatever its colour.

The only downside to being a dual national is if you get yourself into trouble in Poland, you can’t call the Canadian Embassy to help, as Canada will see you as a Polish citizen when in Poland.

No worries – honestly.

I’m a dual, too. Not a biggie. Don’t worry about it, but from now on just use the EU while on the Continent as well as entering and exiting the EU, including Iceland. When flying back to the US, check in for your flight with the US passport and then use the EU passport when going through passport control to exit the EU for your flight to the US.
Air France employees had me use my French passport leaving the US this week because the French government requires less paperwork that way. Although, I normally would exit with the US, I don’t expect any problems returning to the US. Maybe Global Entry won’t work, so I’ll see a human.
And don’t let negative or near hysterical answers ruin your day; at times people overreact, make assumptions based on opinions rather than personal experience.

The only downside to being a dual national is if you get yourself into trouble in Poland, you can’t call the Canadian Embassy to help

Yeah, the dancer from "Dancing with the Stars" found that out, dual US/Ukranian Citizen, was in the Ukraine when things broke out, Martial Law declared, all men required to stay, he tried to get out of the country, was arrested. He was allowed to leave after some time, the fact that he was not resident, and had a US passport helped, but at first they did not see it that way. The fact that he was a "celebrity" probably helped more.

I’m a dual, too. Not a biggie. Don’t worry about it, but from now on just use the EU while on the Continent as well as entering and exiting the EU, including Iceland. When flying back to the US, check in for your flight with the US passport and then use the EU passport when going through passport control to exit the EU for your flight to the US.
Air France employees had me use my French passport leaving the US this week because the French government requires less paperwork that way. Although, I normally would exit with the US, I don’t expect any problems returning to the US. Maybe Global Entry won’t work, so I’ll see a human.
And don’t let negative or near hysterical answers ruin your day; at times people overreact, make assumptions based on opinions rather than personal experience.

That makes me feel a bit better actually, thank you :)

Why would the Import Passport control in Gibraltar give you an EXIT SPAIN stamp? Wouldn't it be SPANISH Export Border control/passport control that did it?

I don't think there is import passport control for Gibraltar, on land (maybe through the airport, idk).

I assumed that the passport control I encountered was for crossing into the Gibraltar, but it was actually Spain's exit area. After this there is another room that says "Welcome to Gibraltar" and an attendant at a desk who just waves you through without saying or checking anything.

Regardless, I wouldn't worry. I have ZERO stamps in my US passport for my trip to London in 2019, all electronic.

Yes, UK does not stamp, as a general rule. EU does, hence my worries. The only reason I even did this was because I had previously been in the UK just a few short months prior as a Canadian, did not want to enter the UK again as a Pole because I wanted to stick to the rules of using one passport per country; I assumed the border controls I encountered were for entering Gibraltar, not exiting Spain.

The only downside to being a dual national is if you get yourself into trouble in Poland, you can’t call the Canadian Embassy to help, as Canada will see you as a Polish citizen when in Poland.

Yes, this is why I exclusively travel on my Canadian passport (including to UK), except when in the EU. I do not speak Polish, and would much rather rely on the Canadian Embassy than the Polish one in case of an emergency.
…Which is why I entered Gibraltar (well, thought I was entering Gibraltar) on my Canadian, and got into this mess in the first place.

The piece of information you are missing is: Who operates the border checkpoint? I doubt one guy has authority from both Spain and Gibraltar, and the ability to enforce laws of both countries. I can believe that a UK border agent might stamp a Spain exit stamp as a courtesy, with the scan being a UK entry scan, but I frankly have no clue.

This is what I was unclear about as well. From what I understand now, Spain has exclusive control over the borders

I once entered Germany from the UK and somehow missed passport control entirely (no scan, no stamp, nothing….previously would not have thought this was even possible, but it was at Tegel shortly before it closed down so maybe things were in flux? Who knows). I spent my whole trip completely petrified that upon trying to leave Germany I would be accused of entering the EU illegally, but had no problems. The agent paged through my passport for quite a while and looked confused, but that often happens because I have a crazy number of stamps, and then he waved me through without even asking any questions. It has never come up again and I’ve been to the EU about a dozen times since then.

Obviously a different scenario, but it taught me that either border control agents are willing to accept some degree of human error, or don’t scrutinise all that closely. In hindsight I wish I hadn’t worried so much about an honest mistake. I can’t make any promises about your situation, but I suspect you will be fine.

spent my whole trip completely petrified that upon trying to leave Germany I would be accused of entering the EU illegally, but had no problems. The agent paged through my passport for quite a while and looked confused, but that often happens because I have a crazy number of stamps, and then he waved me through without even asking any questions. It has never come up again and I’ve been to the EU about a dozen times since then.

Sorry you spent your trip agonizing! Haha I wouldn't worry so much if I had a crazy number of stamps … this passport is brand new, so it basically has just this exit stamp, that is it!

Yes, just one stamp, but you are going to use the Polish/EU passport when going through passport control to fly to Canada, even if you use the Canadian during check in at the airline only minutes earlier. The Canadian entry controllers won’t care about this one stamp. This is not anything to be concerned about.

Yes, just one stamp, but you are going to use the Polish/EU passport when going through passport control to fly to Canada, even if you use the Canadian during check in at the airline only minutes earlier. The Canadian entry controllers won’t care about this one stamp. This is not anything to be concerned about.

Yeah, thank you. I suppose you're right!

But I travel a lot (well, more before covid), and pretty much exclusively use my Canadian passport. I'm just envisioning some scenario in the future, in which I fly from say Canada, to say, the Middle East, and then on the way back I have to transit in Europe or something, and I'll only have my Canadian passport and that stamp will look weird.

This exact same thing actually happened to me before; I was studying in China with my Canadian passport only, flew to Turkey at the end of my semester, and then visited Greece (EU) for a few days before flying home. So, my travel plans are always spontaneous and I don't really want to always carry around two passports, just something more to be worried about and something extra for me to lose!