Dual Citizenship and Travel

direfan

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

I am looking for some advice and hence would appreciate any help. I have dual nationality and am a US citizen as well as a citizen of Portugal and I have passports for both countries. I will be going to Brazil on a study trip. Portuguese passport holders do not require visa to enter Brazil. On the other hand, US citizens do require visas. My question is whether I can enter Brazil with my Portuguese Passport and when I return to the US, use my US passport. I was told by the Brazilian embassy that I need to travel with both passports but was just looking for some confirmation.

Basically, can I do the above? Can I travel with 2 passports? Thanks a lot.

D
 
Hi direfan,

I am not a lawyer or expert at this, but I have looked into the issue of dual citizenship (I have a green card and intend to apply for naturalization when I am able to). My home country allows dual citizenship as well.

You can travel with two passports (or more, if you are a citizen/national of >2 countries) as long as it is not forbidden by the laws of the countries you are a citizen of. Usually if a country permits its citizens to become nationals/citizens of another country without losing (renouncing) their original citizenship, they do not care how many passports you carry or use. You MUST use a Portuguese passport to enter Portugal, and you MUST use a U.S. passport to enter the U.S. (It is better not to show both passports at the immigration checkpoint--just to avoid confusion, although there is nothing implicitly wrong with carrying both passports on your person.) You may want to check with the Portuguese embassy/consulate to see if the visa waiver with Brazil applies to U.S./Portuguese dual citizens; however, it is my understanding that you can travel on any passport and use the rights and privileges of either citizenship (such as a visa waiver to a third country) without fear of losing your U.S. citizenship.

For U.S. Department of State's stance on dual citizenship, please visit the URL below:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

For Portuguese government's stance on dual citizenship, check with your Potruguese embassy or consulate.

Hope this helps!

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice and hence would appreciate any help. I have dual nationality and am a US citizen as well as a citizen of Portugal and I have passports for both countries. I will be going to Brazil on a study trip. Portuguese passport holders do not require visa to enter Brazil. On the other hand, US citizens do require visas. My question is whether I can enter Brazil with my Portuguese Passport and when I return to the US, use my US passport. I was told by the Brazilian embassy that I need to travel with both passports but was just looking for some confirmation.

Basically, can I do the above? Can I travel with 2 passports? Thanks a lot.

D
 
I have dual nationality and am a US citizen as well as a citizen of Portugal and I have passports for both countries. I will be going to Brazil on a study trip. Portuguese passport holders do not require visa to enter Brazil. On the other hand, US citizens do require visas. My question is whether I can enter Brazil with my Portuguese Passport and when I return to the US, use my US passport. I was told by the Brazilian embassy that I need to travel with both passports but was just looking for some confirmation.

Basically, can I do the above? Can I travel with 2 passports? Thanks a lot.

I have a very similar situation and have had no problems to date on using different passports to enter different countries. Essentially, once you are outside of the US, you are free to do whatever you wish with any other passports you have, such as use them to enter Brasil without having to pay the visa tax. However, you MUST use your US passport to re-enter the US. So for your trip to Brasil, you have to carry both passport, but you will show the Brasilians only your EU passport. Have fun!
 
cool_r2i, goldin03 and gunt thank you very much for your extremely helpful responses. It has been very reassuring. I am still a little nervous about it.
Just to confirm I leave the US on my US passport and if the airlines ask me for a visa, I show them my EU passport. I then enter Brazil with my EU passport and when I return to the US, I show my US passport. Is that correct? Do I show them my EU passport only if they ask or should I tell them from the beginning? Once again thanks for all your help.

D
 
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