Dual Citizenship and Travel

cdnSpinalTap

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Hello,

I know I should be able to find the official answer somewhere, and I will still look for that, but my wife is an American citizen and we are going through the process of getting her Canadian citizenship, as well as the kids American citizenship. After that is done, they will all have dual citizenship.

If anybody is in the same situation with dual citizenship kids, how do you cross the border? Do you go down to Florida on your American passport and come back on your Canadian passport? Or do you just choose one and use that for both crossings?

Like I said - I will dig around for the official answer, but was just curious what others do.
 
This very topic came up the other day at a dinner party.

Whichever passport you cross the border with 1st is the one you use to re-enter.

That being said, a woman with dual citizenship was traveling to Canada to visit her sister. She crossed into Canada using her Canadian passport so when she crossed the border to go home she tried to use her Canadian passport. Was asked a lot of questions by border guards (she lives in US). Admitted she had dual citizenship and they asked to see her US passport. Told her she should always use her US passport to cross the border. She mentioned that she used her Canadian passport to go into Canada. It didn't matter, they wanted her to use her US passport always.

Bottom line, carry both and use your US passport if you have one.

This isn't official word off a website but it was recent experience.
 
I was told by a friend with dual citizenship that she had to use her US passport to enter the USA and her Canadian passport to enter Canada. For other countries she uses ger Canadian only because she’s a canadian resident.
 
I've always heard that if you carry a passport for the country you are entering, then that's the one you need to use. It doesn't matter what you used to leave the country. But I could be wrong, so please post if you get an 'official' answer from a consulate.
 


If you're a US citizen, US law requires you use your US passport when entering the US. Canada's less strict (I've reentered Canada on my US passport while I was still waiting on my Canadian passport in the mail), but I always travel with both passports and use the passport of the country I'm entering (and use my US passport for domestic US flights too).

I imagine it's a pain with the kids too, carrying and keeping track of so many passports. You could probably get away with leaving the Canadian passports in Canada and just relying on the US ones, but why risk a hassle unnecessarily?
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I think the problem we would have entering Canada on a US passport is the question of residency. For example, my wife is a US citizen and only has a US passport. She must always present her permanent resident card when coming into Canada. If the kids came in on the US passport, I could imagine there would be problems and questions regarding their residency, how long they are planning on staying in Canada, etc.

Edited to add that I found this information in the meantime:

If you hold dual citizenship and are returning to Canada, you must use your Canadian passport: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...nada/dual-canadian-citizens-visit-canada.html
 
Sounds about right. My wife and kids use their UK passports when travelling there and Canadian ones going back. Never been an issue afaik.
 


I have dual citizenship as well. I always use my passport for the country I was born in (Canada). I used to use my USA license card when going into the USA but the agents would give me a hard time like why dont you live here, why dont you work here etc...
 
My husband has dual as well. He uses his US passport for everything when traveling. His Nexus has him registered as American. When we cross and they ask what we are going to be doing he says to visit family they have never given and flak about it going into Canada. Likewise the other way he says he was visiting his parents and we have never been hassled returning to the US.
 
Myself and 1 daughter are Dual. We just travel with our Canadian passports. Never been hassled until this past trip (Aug/Sept) driving thru US border taking a flight out of US to Florida. I wasn’t denied entry but was told I should have a US passport.
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...nality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html

I don't know Canadian law but the U.S. says this (from the website linked above): U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. Dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country. Use of the foreign passport to travel to or from a country other than the United States is not inconsistent with U.S. law.
 
I am a dual US-Canada citizen and have asked both US and Canadian officials which passport one uses to enter which country.

US federal law requires US citizens to enter the US *as* US citizens. So you need to use the US passport to enter the US.

Canada requires Canadians to enter as Canadians. So you need to use the Canadian passport to enter Canada.

When I travel between the two I bring both.

Where you can run into an issue is when you fly. Assuming your flight out and back are on the same airline, the airline will require you to use the same passport. So if you start in Canada and are going to the US, you need to use the US passport since you are entering the US. That is the passport info you enter into the online checkin system and the passenger select info. When you checkin to return to Canada you will have to use the US passport as the airline computer system throws a hissy fit if you try to use a different passport than what you used for the first part of your trip [note some airlines may now allow you to enter more than one, but if it only allows one it has to be the same one]. **BUT** when you actually arrive in person back in Canada and are going through Canada Customs, give them the Canadian passport since you are actually entering Canada at that point.

SW
 
I am a dual US-Canada citizen and have asked both US and Canadian officials which passport one uses to enter which country.

US federal law requires US citizens to enter the US *as* US citizens. So you need to use the US passport to enter the US.

Canada requires Canadians to enter as Canadians. So you need to use the Canadian passport to enter Canada.

When I travel between the two I bring both.

Where you can run into an issue is when you fly. Assuming your flight out and back are on the same airline, the airline will require you to use the same passport. So if you start in Canada and are going to the US, you need to use the US passport since you are entering the US. That is the passport info you enter into the online checkin system and the passenger select info. When you checkin to return to Canada you will have to use the US passport as the airline computer system throws a hissy fit if you try to use a different passport than what you used for the first part of your trip [note some airlines may now allow you to enter more than one, but if it only allows one it has to be the same one]. **BUT** when you actually arrive in person back in Canada and are going through Canada Customs, give them the Canadian passport since you are actually entering Canada at that point.

SW
I only have a Canadian passport, so that’s what I enter coming and going. My bad.
 

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