Going to Lao Dual Citizen

[TheBoar]

A friend with Lao/British passport.

 

She entered BKK with British passport and will exit with British passport.

 

When she enter Lao, she will use Lao.

 

Will the Lao immigration ask her where was the departure stamp from the last location? Does she have anything to worry about?

[brewsterbudgen]

What passport did she use when she left Laos?

[TheBoar]

She used Lao.

[brewsterbudgen]

On 23/11/2016 at 7:35 PM, TheBoar said:

She used Lao.

 

Then she should be fine as she will have an exit stamp from Laos and, presumably, and entry stamp into Thailand.  They won't know she used a UK passport to exit Thailand and go to the UK.

 

She does need to be careful though, as Lao citizens are not permitted to have dual nationality.

[Hkan]

I am US/Myanmar citizen although Myanmar government doesn't allow dual citizen.

I am now living in Myanmar permanent.Name on my two passport are different.Will this be a problem if I travel/return back to Myanmar?here is my plan...

-YGN to Bkk under Myanmar passport ( present airline check in at Myanmar passport and immigration at Myanmar passport)

-at BKK show my US passport at immigration and get arrived stamp then collect my luggage 

-then I will check in again with my US passport at airline counter

-exit with US passport 

-travel to US

when come back.....

-check in airline with US passport

-immigration US passport

-fly to BKK

-at BKK use my Myanmar passport 

-get arrival stamp collect my luggage 

-check in again with Myanmar passport and get exit stamp 

-fly to Myanmar 

i will buy ticket ygn-Bkk-gyn ....Bkk-US-Bkk

can I do like this?please advise ....thank you

[Hkan]

 But name on boarding pass and passport are different

[skatewash]

Short answer:  yes (but a problem due to the names not matching, so I would do it slightly differently than you propose. See long answer.)

Long answer:

The golden rule of traveling with two passports is to always use the same passport to exit a country as you used to enter the country.  Passport switching can not be done within a country.  Passport switching can occur in the air between countries, but once within a particular country you will always show just one passport to immigration officials in that country on entry and exit.

In general, what you propose to do is a pretty common thing (see http://www.stylehiclub.com/cruising-flying/step-step-guide-to-traveling-with-two-passports/).   Is, in fact, your name the same in both passports, but written in Burmese in the Myanmar one, and transliterated into English in the US passport?  If so, then this might not be a serious problem.  If you go to the picture ID page of your Myanmar passport it should show your name transcribed into English in the machine-readable section at the bottom of the page:  P<LASTNAME<<FIRSTNAME<<<...  If this name agrees with your name in the US passport then it should be possible.

When you have a choice (see the golden rule above for when you don't have a choice) you should always use the passport that gives you the most benefit.  Obviously, a passport issued by a country is always the best passport to use in that country.  When in Myanmar you should always only use your Myanmar passport.  When you are in the US you should always only use your US passport (in fact, it is illegal for a person having a US passport to use any other passport they may have to enter the US).

If you enter Thailand using your US passport you should get a 30 day visa exempt entry.  If you enter Thailand using your Burmese passport you would only get a 14 day visa exempt entry, but it sounds like that would be sufficient for your purposes.

1A) purchase your round-trip airplane ticket from Myanmar to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details.

1B) purchase a one-way airplane ticket from Thailand to US using your US passport details, and then purchase a separate one-way airplane ticket from the US to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details.
2) check-in at the airport in Myanmar using your Myanmar passport.
3) exit Myanmar immigration using your Myanmar passport.

4) enter Thailand using your **** MYANMAR **** passport.    
5) check-in at the airport in Thailand using your US passport.

6) exit Thailand using your **** MYANMAR **** passport.

7) enter US using your US passport.

8) have fun in the US!

when coming back from the US to Myanmar:
9) check-in at the airport in US using your Myanmar passport.

10) exit US using US passport (although normally there is no passport checking process on exit in the US).
11) enter Thailand using your Myanmar passport.

12) check-in at the airport in Thailand using your Myanmar passport.
13) exit Thailand using your Myanmar passport.
14) enter Myanmar using your Myanmar passport.
15) have fun in Myanmar!

The end result of all this is that your Myanmar passport will show that you two very short trips to Thailand and then went back to Myanmar, while only your US passport will show the trip to the US.  Myanmar immigration wouldn't know of the US trip at all, although a really clever Myanmar immigration officer could raise the question of where were you between your short one-day trips to Thailand (which you would find very hard to explain using just your Myanmar passport and you certainly couldn't show him your US passport to explain it).  You followed the golden rule of always exiting a country on the same passport you used to enter the country.  All should be good, no laws broken.

So the cost of keeping your US passport off the radar of Myanmar immigration is purchasing two one-way tickets between Thailand and the US rather than just a single return trip ticket.  One one-way ticket from Thailand to the US using your US passport details and one from the US to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details (see step 1B).  This ensures that when you arrive in the US the airline ticket, your check-in information, and your US passport all have the same exact name.  And likewise when you arrive in Thailand from the US your airline ticket, your check-in information, and your Myanmar passport will all have the same exact name.

Long term it would probably be best if you could get your name to be the same in your US and Myanmar passports.  Is the difference due to getting married or is it simply a mistake or a difference in how your name was transliterated from Burmese to English?  I guess it would be safer to try to get the US passport changed to agree with your Myanmar one.

Edited November 29, 2016 by skatewash
spelling

[skatewash]

3 hours ago, Hkan said:

 But name on boarding pass and passport are different

Please see post #7 above where I've responded to your question.

[Hkan]

Hi skatewash thank you for the reply... but if I enter Thailand with my Myanmar passport name on boarding pass will be different..immigration don't care name different?i changed some spelling and put my surname on my US pp but pronounce still the same...in Myanmar we don't use surname.i have name change certificate..can I show that if immigration ask about name different? YGN -BKK buy ticket with Myanmar pp and can't enter with my US passport?and also from US -BKk ticket with US pp enter with Myanmar pp?i just want entry and exit stamp from BKK so it looks like I just come back from BKK 

 

[skatewash]

7 hours ago, Hkan said:

Hi skatewash thank you for the reply... but if I enter Thailand with my Myanmar passport name on boarding pass will be different..immigration don't care name different?i changed some spelling and put my surname on my US pp but pronounce still the same...in Myanmar we don't use surname.i have name change certificate..can I show that if immigration ask about name different? YGN -BKK buy ticket with Myanmar pp and can't enter with my US passport?and also from US -BKk ticket with US pp enter with Myanmar pp?i just want entry and exit stamp from BKK so it looks like I just come back from BKK 

 

I believe my earlier reply was correct, but here's some explanation based on your question:

 

1A) purchase your round-trip airplane ticket from Myanmar to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details.

 

You have to exit Myanmar using your Myanmar passport (because you entered Myanmar on that passport).  So you purchase the round-trip airplane ticket from Myanmar to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details, including, of course, the Myanmar spelling of your name.  So your Myanmar to Thailand ticket will reference the Myanmar spelling of your name.  You check-in at the Myanmar airport with your ticket and Myanmar passport, all of which have the same Myanmar spelling of your name.  You arrive in Thailand and enter with your Myanmar passport.  At Thai immigration your passport, ticket, and the passenger manifest (from the check-in in Myanmar) will all reference the same Myanmar spelling of your name.  You will have no problems entering Thailand because you will not be using the English spelling of your name when doing so.  Immigration could very well care if the names were different but because you purchased the ticket using the Myanmar spelling of your name, the name will exactly match the name in your Myanmar passport.

 

1B) purchase a one-way airplane ticket from Thailand to US using your US passport details, and then purchase a separate one-way airplane ticket from the US to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details.

 

The reason you purchase a one-way ticket from the US to Thailand using your Myanmar passport (which has the Myanmar spelling of your name) is that it will allow you to enter Thailand using your Myanmar passport.  When you exit Thailand you will use your Myanmar passport to go back to Myanmar.  This will result in an exit stamp in your Myanmar passport indicating you exited Thailand, which is what you want when you arrive back in Myanmar.  Your Myanmar passport will indicate that you are just coming back from Thailand.  Unless you exit Thailand using your Myanmar passport that passport will not have such an exit stamp from Thailand.  Since you must exit Thailand with your Myanmar passport you must enter Thailand with your Myanmar passport.  Because you will be traveling to Thailand from the US you must purchase a one-way ticket using your Myanmar passport details (which includes the Myanmar spelling of your name).  When you arrive in Thailand from the US you will be traveling on a ticket that lists the Myanmar spelling of your name, you will have checked-in in the US using the same Myanmar spelling of your name, and it will match the spelling of your name in your Myanmar passport.  Again, the reason you want to enter Thailand after coming back from the US on your Myanmar passport is that you need to exit Thailand on your Myanmar passport in order to get the exit stamp from Thailand in your Myanmar passport to show Myanmar immigration where you have been.

Here is the only problem I can see with doing it this way.  When you arrive back in Myanmar after this trip you will have two trips to Thailand in your Myanmar passport.  Each trip will be very short (entry and exit on the same day).  What will be missing from your Myanmar passport is any explanation of where you were between those two short trips to Thailand.  You couldn't have been in Thailand the whole time because the first exit stamp indicates you left Thailand and didn't re-enter until your second trip to Thailand.  So, logically you must have left Thailand to go somewhere between those two short trips.  But your Myanmar passport won't show you going anywhere else (even though you did, in fact, go to the US, you did so using your US passport so your Myanmar passport shows no evidence of that) between the two trips to Thailand.  If the Myanmar immigration officer is clever he could figure out that you must have used a second passport to go somewhere between those two short trips to Thailand and from what you say that would present problems for you in Myanmar since a Myanmar citizen cannot have another citizenship in addition to Myanmar.

However, the Myanmar immigration officer is primarily interested in determining if you should be allowed entry into Myanmar.  You will be showing your Myanmar passport, you will be listed on the passenger manifest under the Myanmar spelling of your name (since you checked-in in Thailand using the Myanmar spelling of your name), you will be traveling using a ticket that has the Myanmar spelling of your name, and you will have an exit stamp for that day showing that you properly exited from Thailand.  In other words, of the things that Myanmar immigration officers check to make sure you should be allowed entry into Myanmar you should be OK.  It's unlikely that the Myanmar immigration officer will notice that your last trip to Thailand was a very short one (entry and exit on the same day), and begin to wonder where you were before you entered Thailand on that last trip.  It's even more unlikely if you have a Myanmar passport with lots of entry and exit stamps in it from other places. 

In Thailand, if you are have a Thai passport you can use an automated immigration entry gate at the airport when you return to Thailand.  You just scan your Thai passport and if your documents are in order the gate opens and you enter Thailand without even having to talk with a Thai immigration officer.  It would be great if Myanmar had a similar system for you to use when you returned to Myanmar.  Your documents will be in order.  You shouldn't have any problem talking with a Myanmar immigration officer on your return to Myanmar.  All the information an immigration officer normally checks will be fine in your case.  Normally the immigration officers are busy (lots of people lined up waiting to see them) and are interested in only doing their job, not conducting an investigation or analysis of where you have been.  As long as you present them with the proper information in your documents (passport, airline ticket) they should be happy to just stamp you in and move on to the next person.  However, if you get unlucky and have an immigration officer who is curious about your last very short trip to Thailand and wonders where you were before that trip it could be very awkward because using only your Myanmar passport you would not be able to show where you were.  I think it would be fairly unlikely to get such an immigration officer, but I can't know that for certain.  If you have a passport with lots of entries and exits I would worry about it less.  If you have a new Myanmar passport with very few entry/exit stamps then I think you are more at risk.  Only you can decide if you want to run that (possibly very small) risk.

Let me know if it's still unclear and I'll try to clarify if I can.

[Hkan]

Thanks for a quick reply...Myanmar passport spell in English NOT in Myanmar...if I enter Thailand using Myanmar pp and check in with US pp the name on the boarding pass will be different...immigration not look at boarding pass?cant I just enter with US pp and fly to US?only enter with Myanmar pp when come back from US then fly to Myanmar?but one entry stamp will be missing but I dont think Myanmar immigration will care of entry stamp from other country...

one of my friend has done this way several times and no problem at all...Ygn-Bkk-Ygn under Myanmar name and Bkk-US-Bkk with US name...depart Myanmar with Myanmar pp and arrive Bkk with US...depart US with US pp and arrive BKk with Myanmar pp..

thank you again  and sorry for asking too many questions 

[skatewash]

9 minutes ago, Hkan said:

Thanks for a quick reply...Myanmar passport spell in English NOT in Myanmar...if I enter Thailand using Myanmar pp and check in with US pp the name on the boarding pass will be different...immigration not look at boarding pass?cant I just enter with US pp and fly to US?only enter with Myanmar pp when come back from US then fly to Myanmar?but one entry stamp will be missing but I dont think Myanmar immigration will care of entry stamp from other country...

one of my friend has done this way several times and no problem at all...Ygn-Bkk-Ygn under Myanmar name and Bkk-US-Bkk with US name...depart Myanmar with Myanmar pp and arrive Bkk with US...depart US with US pp and arrive BKk with Myanmar pp..

thank you again  and sorry for asking too many questions 

 

The advantage of doing it the way I suggested is that you only have to purchase two one-way tickets for the Thailand<->US flights (the Thailand<->Myanmar flight can be round-trip return).  You can do it they way you suggest, but you will need to purchase one-way tickets for all flights: Thailand<->US and also Thailand<->Myanmar.  The reason for purchasing the one-way tickets is so that you can be assured that your name will be spelled the same when you arrive and try to enter immigration (passport name, ticket name, and plane manifest name will all be exactly the same).  If you purchase round-trip tickets you must fly there and back with the same spelling of your name, there is no way to put different spellings on round-trip tickets.  If you purchase round-trip tickets you will be in a situation where the names do not match and that could be a problem.  If you purchase one-way tickets you can completely avoid that potential problem.  You purchase each flight using the spelling of your name that you will need to match the passport you will be using to enter the country you are arriving at.

So, while the way I outlined earlier will work as explained and I believe it is the best way, it is possible to do it the way you are suggesting as well (the changes appear in bold underline):
 

1A) purchase a one-way airplane ticket from Myanmar to Thailand using your US passport name spelling, and then purchase a one-way airplane ticket from Thailand to Myanmar using our Myanmar passport name spelling.

1B) purchase a one-way airplane ticket from Thailand to US using your US passport details, and then purchase a separate one-way airplane ticket from the US to Thailand using your Myanmar passport details.
2) check-in at the airport in Myanmar using your US passport.
3) exit Myanmar immigration using your Myanmar passport.

4) enter Thailand using your **** US **** passport.    
5) check-in at the airport in Thailand using your US passport.

6) exit Thailand using your **** US **** passport.

7) enter US using your US passport.

8) have fun in the US!

when coming back from the US to Myanmar:
9) check-in at the airport in US using your Myanmar passport.

10) exit US using US passport (although normally there is no passport checking process on exit in the US).
11) enter Thailand using your Myanmar passport.

12) check-in at the airport in Thailand using your Myanmar passport.
13) exit Thailand using your Myanmar passport.
14) enter Myanmar using your Myanmar passport.
15) have fun in Myanmar!

 

This will result in a Myanmar passport that has a single one-day stay in Thailand (entry and exit on same day), and a US passport that shows a single one-day stay in Thailand (entry and exit on the same day) and an extended stay in the US.  So when you arrive back home to Myanmar your Myanmar passport will show that you are coming from Thailand (have a Thai exit stamp).  Again, if you have a curious Myanmar immigration officer (which may be unlikely) he could tell from your Myanmar passport that you left Myanmar when you really did (to go to Thailand), but he won't be able to find where you went because you will not have any stamps in your Myanmar passport until you returned to Thailand from the US many days later.  In other words, you will have a gap in the continuity of where you have been looking only at your Myanmar passport.  That could make him suspicious if he notices the gap.

 

The reason I made my first recommendation is that the gap in your Myanmar passport will be between two trips to Thailand, which I believe is harder to spot than having a gap in your Myanmar passport from when you left Myanmar to when you finally show up in Thailand.  Also, by following my original recommendation you can just get a round-trip ticket from Myanmar<->Thailand, whereas if you follow this second recommendation you would have to purchase two one-way tickets (which may or may not be more expensive).

You can avoid purchasing the one-way tickets and simply purchase round-trip tickets if you believe you will be able to convince immigration officers that the name on your passport is the same as the name on the ticket you are travelling under even though they are spelled differently.  My recommended way doesn't depend on being able to convince immigration officers of this (because the names will be exactly the same) and so I feel it is a less risky way to travel.  Yes, you should carry any documentation that explains the name change just in case.

Of course, I don't know the details of how your friends have traveled this way before without problem.  Do they have the same problem with their names being spelled differently in their passports?  I don't know.  All I have provided is a way to travel that would ensure that your name spellings match whenever you are in front of an immigration official.  I have no idea how strict or lenient immigration officers are on names matching exactly, but if they actually do match exactly then it would seem that would be the safest way to travel ;-)  Good luck!