Traveling out of the country as dual citizen

Hi everyone,

So over the weekend I had my first flight as a dual citizen using my shiny new UK passport, as it was just a flight from Newcastle down to Heathrow.  No problems there.

But Sunday I will be flying home to CA for the holidays, and I'm a little unsure what I'm supposed to do.  My itinerary is from Newcastle to Amsterdam then onto America.

I understand that US citizens must enter and leave the US using their US passport, correct?  But what about the rest of the journey?  I was planning on just taking both passports to make sure I'm covered either way, but I don't want to do something wrong and have it look like I've entered a country and just not left (for example if I enter Amsterdam with my UK passport and then leave with my US passport, or whatever).

Guidance would be appreciated!

To board a plane to the USA, you need to prove you have permission to enter the USA and for you that will be your US passport.

To board a plane to the UK, use your British Citizen passport. Use your British Citizen passport at the border when you land in England.

Although the US is one of the many countries on the UK's list of non-visa nationals; where their citizens can board a plane to the UK and ask permission to enter at the border and can therefore board a plane to the UK; the UK is closing that list in 2024, in favour of the type of scheme the US, Australia etc already have, where permission to enter must be granted before boarding.

Which will mean that in a few months when the US is added to the list of their citizens needing permission to board a plane to the UK, you will need to use your British Citizen passport to board.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-unveils-plans-for-travel-scheme-to-bolster-the-border

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-electronic-travel-authorisation

I may be wrong, but won't the Amsterdam stop be a switchover, so not going through customs into Netherlands and so no stamp at Schipol.

I have dual nationality yet haven't used my Irish passport since renewal in 2016 over confusion about what you put down on the airline website. BA will ask you to update the flight details with a passport. In lvjeremylv's case would it be the British passport or the US one?

I may be wrong, but won't the Amsterdam stop be a switchover, so not going through customs into Netherlands and so no stamp at Schipol.

I have dual nationality yet haven't used my Irish passport since renewal in 2016 over confusion about what you put down on the airline website. BA will ask you to update the flight details with a passport. In lvjeremylv's case would it be the British passport or the US one?

Yes good question, one that I thought of but forgot to include in my original post. Thanks for reminding me - should I be entering the info from my US passport, or UK passport? And it's actually KLM I'm flying with, not BA, for a change.

On an aside, is KLM any good? It'll be my first time. 🍒

Now that I think about it, it should be the passport of where you are going to, so the US in your case. The airline needs to prove that you are valid for the destination country, else they could get a fine, as that is what happens for flights into the UK.

I've never flown KLM but read they're decent enough.

We left the UK on KLM, and have used it at other times.  They were a decent enough airline, but really REALLY bad about making sure special needs were met. As in, they left us on the plane more than once without having made sure the supposedly prearranged wheelchair that was booked through their website (and confirmed at the ticket counters) was there when we were ready to deplane.

I may be wrong, but won't the Amsterdam stop be a switchover, so not going through customs into Netherlands and so no stamp at Schipol.

I have dual nationality yet haven't used my Irish passport since renewal in 2016 over confusion about what you put down on the airline website. BA will ask you to update the flight details with a passport. In lvjeremylv's case would it be the British passport or the US one?

We went through Schipol from UK to USA. We stayed "airside" as we were only changing planes there, but we did have to go through security again to get on the USA flight. (In fact, my daughter got pulled out for secondary screening - watch for the SSSS code on your boarding pass!) I don't remember having to go through customs. This was in 2020, so things may have changed.

When flying into the USA, if you're a US citizen, use the USA passport.  It's technically illegal to enter or leave on another nation's passport if you are a US citizen, although there is no actual penalty for doing so.

I agree with all the above and have also flown a great many times with KLM and have found them to be pretty good. However, since retiring and moving back a few years ago I haven't flown with them. My son and daughter flew to Singapore via Amsterdam on holiday a few days ago and they are flying KLM. So far so good, and excellent flight there, due back in a few days time.

Whenever I have flown to and from the USA from the UK I have always carried both passports, showing my US passport at the airline desk on the way out, and my UK passport at the airline desk in the US on the way back.  They are supposed to check that you have not overstayed your stay in the USA but have never asked to see my US passport even when I offer it to them as they are more concerned about the fines they face from the arrival country if you don't have the correct authorisations for entry.

The UK used to have border control check your passports on the way out to see that you have been here legally but that stopped some time ago. In the early 90s I used to fly in and out of Newcastle on business and after check-in with the airline then have to go through border control who check your passport to see that you have been here legally.  Australia still do this, we have been in and out of Australia on holiday about 6 times. Our son-in-law is dual US/Australian so when he leaves Australia he shows his US passport at check-in and then his Australian passport at border control on the way to the departure gates.