Question About Dual Us Thai Citizenship

[sirineou]

My wife will be getting her 5 year with in the next couple of months or so ( we applied a few months ago), and with in the next 2 years will be eligible to apply for US citizenship , and will do so.

FWI, we now live in the US most of the time.

When she is granted US citizenship , I assume that she then will have dual Thai-US citizenship, as it is my thinking that you never loose your Thai citizenship.

The other day we were talking about a Thai family friend who was in Thailand at the same time as as , a few months ago and came to stay with us for a few days.

upon her return to the states my wife told me that our friend had overstayed her visa by a couple of days, and had to pay a 500 bht fine per day.

I asked my wife, why our friend would need a visa to come to Thailand , since she was still a Thai citizen, and my wife said that , when our friend became a US citizen she had to surrender her Green card, and since she had no green card, with which to return to the States, she had to travel with her american passport, and needed a visa.

This did not sound right to me, and since my wife will be finding her self in the same situation relatively soon, I thought I would ask the other who are in a similar situation , of what their experience is.

Once my wife becomes a us citizen, how will this affect her ability to visit Thailand and stay for longer than a few months with out having to do the Visa runs like the rest of us poor slobs?

Thank you in advance

[sirineou]

^^^^^^^Upon posting this I realized I had a typo in my OP but for some reason I did not have the " Edit" option,

so the first line in the first paragraph on the above OP should read

"My wife will be getting her 5 year Green Card with in the next couple of months or so.

[7by7]

Thailand allows dual nationality and I'm 99.99% sure that the US does.

But if a Thai with dual nationality uses their other passport to enter Thailand then they will, for immigration purposes, be treated as an alien, not a Thai citizen. Hence your friends overstay fine; because she used her US passport to enter Thailand.

What she should have done, and what your wife should do when the time comes, is:-

1. On leaving the US, show US immigration her US passport.
   
2. On arrival in Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport
   
3. On leaving Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport.
   
4. On arrival in the US show US immigration her US passport.
   

She will probably need to show both passports to the airline when she checks in so that they know she has the necessary permissions for entry at the other end.

This is perfectly legal and many dual nationals do this all the time without any problems.

[sirineou]

Thailand allows dual nationality and I'm 99.99% sure that the US does.

But if a Thai with dual nationality uses their other passport to enter Thailand then they will, for immigration purposes, be treated as an alien, not a Thai citizen. Hence your friends overstay fine; because she used her US passport to enter Thailand.

What she should have done, and what your wife should do when the time comes, is:-

1. On leaving the US, show US immigration her US passport.
   
2. On arrival in Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport
   
3. On leaving Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport.
   
4. On arrival in the US show US immigration her US passport.
   

She will probably need to show both passports to the airline when she checks in so that they know she has the necessary permissions for entry at the other end.

This is perfectly legal and many dual nationals do this all the time without any problems.

I will keep this information in mind for when the time comes, and I will pass it along to my Thai friends.

In the General Topics section of this forum there is a thread running at this time " How has TV helped you". we have many serious replies, and have some fun with it also, but this is a fine example , of the usefulness of this forum.

Thank you 7by 7

[arkom]

Thailand allows dual nationality and I'm 99.99% sure that the US does.

But if a Thai with dual nationality uses their other passport to enter Thailand then they will, for immigration purposes, be treated as an alien, not a Thai citizen. Hence your friends overstay fine; because she used her US passport to enter Thailand.

What she should have done, and what your wife should do when the time comes, is:-

1. On leaving the US, show US immigration her US passport.
   
2. On arrival in Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport
   
3. On leaving Thailand show Thai immigration her Thai passport.
   
4. On arrival in the US show US immigration her US passport.
   

She will probably need to show both passports to the airline when she checks in so that they know she has the necessary permissions for entry at the other end.

This is perfectly legal and many dual nationals do this all the time without any problems.

Yes the US does allow dual citizenship, I was born in the US to Thai parents so I have both US and Thai passports.

Both of my parents are Thai, born here in Thailand and then obtained US citizenship years later like your wife.

As 7b7 says;

1. Leave the US with her US passport.

2. Enter and leave Thailand on Thai passport.

3. Enter the US with US passport.

I have done this plenty of times without any problems, stayed in Thailand as long as a year and returned to the US with my US passport without any problems.

[p_brownstone]

"I asked my wife, why our friend would need a visa to come to Thailand , since she was still a Thai citizen, and my wife said that , when our friend became a US citizen she had to surrender her Green card, and since she had no green card, with which to return to the States, she had to travel with her american passport, and needed a visa."

It is logical that your friend had to surrender her U.S. Green Card when she became a U.S. Citizen but that has nothing to do with her Thai Passport (or, as already said, her Thai Citizenship). She should still have had her Thai Passport and used that when entering Thailand so no Visa would be necessary, although again as already stated if she did enter Thailand with her U.S. Passport then she would be treated as any other foreign visitor as far as Overstay etc. is concerned.

By the way, on a slightly different subject, once your wife becomes a U.S. Citizen it is illegal for her to enter the United States on any other Passport.

Patrick

[IMA_FARANG]

As I understand it...and I can be wrong (it's happened before)....

Dual citizenship (Thai/U.S.) is perfectly legal under the current laws.

As mentioned....use the Thai passport to enter Thailand...there's benefits to that when entering Thailand....and use the U.S. passport to enter the U.S. as there are benefits to that when entering the U.S. That;s a no-brainer and is a win-win choice.

The Green Card is for aliens resident in the U.S.A....so she gives that up on becoming a U.S. citizen. The reason is she is then a U.S. citizen...and not a resident alien....and no longer needs a Green Card then, does she?

Regarding being required to use your U.S. passport when entering the U.S. if a dual citizen....I don't know the law, but that sounds bogus to me. Now, if you were a dual nationality....legally having a U.S. passport....you would be silly NOT to use that to enter the U.S. Simply for the reason of the fewer hassles a U.S. citizen with a valid passport has on entering the U.S.

But I can't see it as being ILLEGAL to use your valid other country passport if you are a legal dual national.

Stupid and silly maybe, but not illegal.

But hey, the law is an a-- anyhow.

Edited June 6, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[p_brownstone]

Regarding being required to use your U.S. passport when entering the U.S. if a dual citizen....I don't know the law, but that sounds bogus to me. Now, if you were a dual nationality....legally having a U.S. passport....you would be silly NOT to use that to enter the U.S. Simply for the reason of the fewer hassles a U.S. citizen with a valid passport has on entering the U.S.

But I can't see it as being ILLEGAL to use your valid other country passport if you are a legal dual national.

Stupid and silly maybe, but not illegal.

But hey, the law is an a-- anyhow.

"According to Section 215 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1185), it is illegal for an American citizen to enter or leave the U.S. on anything other than an American passport. This applies to dual citizens as well, meaning that persons holding both American and another country's citizenship must enter and depart from the U.S. on a valid U.S. passport. This applies to children as well as adults."

From : http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/passport_svcs2.html

Patrick

[samran]

Regarding being required to use your U.S. passport when entering the U.S. if a dual citizen....I don't know the law, but that sounds bogus to me. Now, if you were a dual nationality....legally having a U.S. passport....you would be silly NOT to use that to enter the U.S. Simply for the reason of the fewer hassles a U.S. citizen with a valid passport has on entering the U.S.

But I can't see it as being ILLEGAL to use your valid other country passport if you are a legal dual national.

Stupid and silly maybe, but not illegal.

But hey, the law is an a-- anyhow.

"According to Section 215 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1185), it is illegal for an American citizen to enter or leave the U.S. on anything other than an American passport. This applies to dual citizens as well, meaning that persons holding both American and another country's citizenship must enter and depart from the U.S. on a valid U.S. passport. This applies to children as well as adults."

From : http://amsterdam.usc...port_svcs2.html

Patrick

Australia is effectively similar.

Everyone travelling on a foreign passport requires a visa to enter Australia. However, Australia doesn't issue visa's to people who are also Australian citizens (except in very limited circumtances where the issuance of an Australian passport to return to Australia is for some reason possible).

[Tomtomtom69]

IMA_FARANG, it is a legal requirement as a US citizen to use your US passport to return to the US if you are a dual citizen. In all likelihood, you may not even make it onto the plane if you don't comply with this requirement. If you don't have your US passport for whatever reason and need to urgently travel back to the US (perhaps your passport was lost or stolen) then get an emergency passport, which can be issued very quickly, possibly within only a few hours. Failing that you could use another visa waiver eligible passport and get an ESTA and then explain your situation upon arrival, but it will make things complicated once you arrive. The only reason that you would do that without waiting for an emergency passport is if 1. the country you are in is in state of war or natural disaster and you need to get out NOW since your life is at risk or 2. someone important to you died or is suffering from a terminal illness. Employment reasons may be urgent, but are never as urgent as the 2 reasons stated above and never urgent enough to not be able to wait an extra day or so for an emergency passport, especially when you consider the flight from Thailand to the US will take about 24 hours or more anyway, so 1 day extra won't make a difference and I'm sure your employer would understand.

It's the same for Australia (I'm a dual citizen by the way with three nationalities and passports). I always use my Australian passport to enter and exit Australia and I show the passport that is relevant for my journey at the check-in counter. I don't show any other passport unless the check-in clerk wants to see something such as a visa etc. inside one of my other passports, but this is unlikely. When travelling overland, I consider which passport is best for both (or multiple countries) that I'll be entering since switching passports at land borders, particularly in Asia can be a problem, but there is never a problem if you fly between those same two countries as nobody checks or cares where you travelled from and thus no proof of leaving the previous country is required.

[mmushr00m]

Does the same thing apply to Canada as well. The missus will be getting her CDN passport soon and we were wondering how we were going to do the passport thingy.

I know when we leave CDA, we don't even pass through immigration so no stamps but when we reenter immigration usually looks at the exit stamp from last port of departure. Won't it raise question if her cdn passport doesn't show entry/exit?

[7by7]

I doubt it; if she is a Canadian citizen then how can they refuse her entry to Canada?

If they do question it, show them her Thai passport.

My wife and daughter are dual Thai/British nationals and the UK also does not stamp passports on leaving. They have never had a problem entering and leaving Thailand with their Thai passports or entering and leaving the UK with their British ones.

[sirineou]

It has being said many times, "The strength of TV is it's sub-forums" and this is certainly true with this thread.

When I first asked the OP , I was very confused,about the implications of dual citizenship as it pertained to traveling.

all your replies were apropos and to the point,

Your answers have helped me understand the situation and in the posses helped others who had the same concerns.

Since you all took the time to answer, It is only appropriate that I take the time to thank you all.

Thank you