View Full Version : British passport holder born in the US
E. Cosgrove
03-09-2005, 15:22
My friend was born in New York to British parents and returned to the UK when she was 2 years old, she holds a British passport and has travelled to the US using a visa waiver on 3 previous occasions.
On the first 2 occasions she had no problems at all, but last year Virgin Atlantic were reluctant to let her board the flight saying that she did not have the correct documentation and having been born in the US she needed another form.
After some discussion and heated debate they finally allowed her to board and on arrival in the US she had no trouble with immigration.
Since her return she has had little success in finding out if she does indeed need any more documentaion to allow her to travel. The US embassy will only tell her that she does not need a visa and is entitled to travel under the visa waiver scheme.
She is due to travel to Florida with me in Nov and I am concerned they may not let her on the plane. Can anybody throw any light on this?
Liz, wouldn't that give her dual nationality, and a US passport as well as a British one?
E. Cosgrove
03-09-2005, 17:19
Apparently as she never returned to the US nor applied for a US passport after leaving her right to US citizenship lapsed when she was 18.......she is 50 in 2 years time[msnwink] <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Snapper
Liz, wouldn't that give her dual nationality, and a US passport as well as a British one?
[/quote]
steph_goodrum
03-09-2005, 19:08
Liz
I seem to remember someone else coming across this recently with their mother being told she MUST apply for a US passport to enter the US even if she did not apply for citizenship. She was in the same situation after leaving US in early childhood and all the Embassy istructions indicate that if you were born in the US the only acceptable means of entry into the country is with US passport.
It doesnt mean she has to give up her UK one though.
E. Cosgrove
03-09-2005, 20:20
Thanks for that Steph, I havetrawled through the US website and found the appropriate page eventually, so she is going to apply for a passport. What happens then when she arrives in the UD, is she classed as a US citizen, does she go through the lane for US citizens?
My daughter was born in the US and holds her own passport and has never had any problem Liz. Maybe it's because she is under 18 and travels with us?
My husband has phoned the Embassy to ask about dual citizenship as she is 18 tomorrow and they have said that age is not a factor and if born in American your American citizenship applies irrespective of age. They have suggested though that before she travels to America next time that she gets a US passport.
E. Cosgrove
03-09-2005, 23:02
Yes Diane, I think that is the wisest thing to do, I followed the information in this link http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/index.html
Sue is going to apply for a passport, it says it should only take 15 days so she has plenty of time. She is quite horrified at the thought of being a US citizen as she considers herself British through and through and doesn't even travel to the US very often.
Hope it doesn't get too complicated as her parents were both British citizens but she returned to th UK when their marriage broke up. Her father is now a US citizen although she has little contact with him.
I presume she will enter the US using her US passport (assuming she is granted one ) but will be able to re enter the UK using her British passport. It's all very complicated isn't it?
steph_goodrum
04-09-2005, 00:45
Liz
Once she's got it I think it gives the best of both worlds as she is a "local" on entering both the US and UK.
sunseeker
04-09-2005, 03:49
Not sure she will be able to enter the US on one passport and then return to the UK on the other. A friend of mine has dual nationality UK & Australia, he can only enter the UK on his Australian passport and then use the same one to leave back to OZ. He did use his UK passport when we went for a trip to France.
Dave
This all sounds pretty complicated to me!
Which passport to use
Section 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1185) requires U.S. citizens to use U.S. passports when entering or leaving the United States unless one of the exceptions listed in Section 53.2 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations applies. (One of these exceptions permits a child under the age of 12, who is included in the foreign passport of a parent who has no claim to U.S. citizenship, to enter the United States without a U.S. passport, provided the child presents evidenceof his/her U.S. citizenship when entering the United States.)
Dual nationals may be required by the other country of which they are citizens to enter or leave that country using its passport, but do not endanger their U.S. citizenship by complying with such a requirement. http://usembassy-australia.state.gov/consular/dualnat.html
E. Cosgrove
04-09-2005, 13:36
it's really complicated Blott!!!!!
To my mind my English friend wants to come on holiday with me, but by some accident of birth she needs to apply for US passport.
After having followed the link, I stll believe that she will be able to use her UK passport to re enter this country.
I hope this all works out........I've bought the tickets now!
CarolAnn
04-09-2005, 13:49
Crikey Liz it sounds mighty complex[msneek]Let us know how your friend gets on, and make sure she doesn't delay proceedings, time will tick away until Novemeber, and just in case it takes longer than the 15 days the earlier she starts the better. Fingers crossed for her[msnwink]
E. Cosgrove
04-09-2005, 14:56
She can't apply until the end of Sept Carol as she needs her pasport for a trip to Spain[msnsad]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I presume she will enter the US using her US passport (assuming she is granted one ) but will be able to re enter the UK using her British passport. It's all very complicated isn't it?
[/quote]
That is exactly the correct procedure as dictated by both counties..
Dual citizensship is quite complicated ..Rich Wales has done lot of research on it ..take a read ..
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
E. Cosgrove
06-09-2005, 00:17
So this paragraph really throws the cat amongst the pigeons!!!!
"You don't necessarily need to acknowledge or claim your US citizenship, of course. If you really want to get rid of it, you could go to a US consulate and renounce it. However, you could decide to simply ignore it. Although, technically, a US citizen can enter the US only on a US passport (or proof of US citizenship if entering from an adjacent country), my understanding is that this requirement is not normally enforced in the case of a tourist entering the US on a foreign passport who happens to have US citizenship but has never sought to exercise it."
Any more suggestions, I don't think my friend will be too happy in having to file 6 years back tax etc etc.
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jo carroll
07-09-2005, 02:19
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by E. Cosgrove
I presume she will enter the US using her US passport (assuming she is granted one ) but will be able to re enter the UK using her British passport.
[/quote]
This is exactly what my nephew who has dual US/UK citizenshiop does.
E. Cosgrove
07-09-2005, 11:24
Thanks for that Jo. My friend has an apointment for 29th of Sept so I will let you all know how it goes.
I have heard of British citizens born in the US who have been turned back at the UK departure gate because they had no US passport and could not produce evidence of renunciation of US citizenship. Your passport says where you were born, and if an eagle-eyed security guard at the gate picks that up, you have a problem.
I believe that people in this position can get a US passport at the Embassy on the spot, but renunciation takes longer because the US needs to be satisfied that the citizen's US tax affairs are up to date. Catch 22! It would probably be worth finding out before the interview whether or not there is a signifcant tax problem - depends on level of income and how complicated your financial affirs are.
Martin Hockey
http://www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1834.aspx
E. Cosgrove
07-09-2005, 20:38
This is exactly how my friend was caught out last time, but in the end they let her board and she had no problems with US immigration. She has spoken with the embassy and they have assured her that it should be very straightforward and providing she has the correct documentation she will receive her passport within 15 days. We wll have to wait and see if this is what actually happens in reality[msneek]
E. Cosgrove
01-10-2005, 21:44
My friend attended the embassy last week, and apart from the surprise at it taking her 47 years to apply for a passport ( they couldn't understand why she wasn't desperate to be a US citizen!) and saying that she had altered since the issue of her last US passport ( she was 2 at the time [msnwink])everything seemed to go OK and she is now waiting for her US passport to be returned to her.[msnsmile2]
Thanks everyone for all your help and advice.
Glad she's all sorted Liz but I would imagine that there are millions of people from every part of the world who might envy her that American passport that she didn't really want! [msnwink]
steph_goodrum
02-10-2005, 04:48
Does it also mean Liz that she has to file US tax returns as well now?
E. Cosgrove
27-10-2005, 02:25
Don't know about the tax returns Steph, crikey if I mention that she will have a duck fit, but she is self employed and has an accountant so I might just drop a gentle hint that she should enquire!
The passport has arrived now, so does anyone know if you can use Virgin online check in with a US passport?
Doesn't look like good news about filing tax returns Liz. http://www.usembassy.org.uk/irs/irswho.htm
Can't see any mention that you can't do online check-in with a non UK passport though.