Thai/Uk Dual Citizenship And Travel To Eu

[SmartH]

My Thai friend has two passports: Thai and a full British Citizen's passport (her late husband was British and she lived in the UK for 5 years). She is now in Thailand (she entered on her Thai passport, so she has a stamp in that) and wants to visit me in France. I read a post on here that covered similar ground, and this was Maestro's recommendation:

"Thai immigration does not ask to see proof of your right to enter the country of destination. That is the airline’s job.

1. Airline check-in in UK [or France]: show UK and Thai passports.

2. Immigration counter on departure from UK [or France]: show UK passport.

3. Immigration counter on arrival in Thailand: show Thai passport.

4. Airline check-in in Thailand: show Thai and UK passports.

5. Immigration counter on departure from Thailand: show Thai passport.

6. Immigration counter on arrival in UK [or France]: show UK passport.

The important thing regarding immigration is to always use the same passport for entering and leaving a particular country." [square brackets added by me]

Evidently the same general procedure (in order 4-5-6-1-2-3) could be used for travelling from Thailand to France (because her full British passport gives her the right to live there). Would there be any complications due to her passports showing different surnames (maiden name in Thai, married name in British)? Which name should she use for purchasing the ticket - I guess Thai?

The trouble is, she had a conflict with groundstaff in BKK a few years ago when she checked in with her Thai passport with some kind of UK visa in it, and they nearly stopped her getting on the UK-bound plane until her husband intervened. This has made her scared of doing what is mentioned above. She thinks it would be easier to get a Schengen visa stamped in her Thai passport. However, it seems that that would cost a fair amount of money and she would have to go to Bangkok, possibly twice, to get it (she lives in Udon). Can anyone confirm that the procedure recommended by Maestro is commonly used and trouble-free?

[7by7]

As a British citizen she has the right to enter France without any visa. She should follow the procedure you outline.

The only, minor, complication is that the passports are in differant names. As she will be using her British passport to enter France I would suggest using that name to purchase her ticket. If necessary she can show both passports to the airline when checking in to leave Thailand, and again when checking in to leave France.

Tell her not to worry about the past incident; I doubt very much that even if she uses the same airline that anyone at check in will remember it!

[SmartH]

Thanks, 7by7. She wants to purchase the ticket in her Thai name, I think, because Thai Immigration may ask to see her boarding card when she leaves? Can you see a problem with her doing that? The French Immigration officials will not be bothered that she has two passports and nor will the airline, from what I have read.

[bangkockney]

Yes, purchase the ticket providing details from the passport used to enter Thailand.

[7by7]

Hadn't thought about Thai immigration wanting to see her boarding pass; so it will avoid any possibility of unnecessary questioning/delay if she buys the ticket in her Thai name; provided, as Bangkockney implies, that she used her Thai passport to enter Thailand the last time she did so.

It shouldn't bother Thai immigration that she has two passports either, as long as she used her Thai passport the last time she entered Thailand or if she used her British one she has not overstayed.

[SmartH]

Yes, she came into Thailand on her Thai passport, but it's expired since, so she'll have to get a new one.

It may all be academic, anyway. She's terrified of authority and simply won't believe me that the above procedure is fine. She's sure she'll have her passport confiscated. I've shown her as much info as I can to the contrary, but to no avail. Thanks for the help!