I have dual nationality. I was born in Taiwan so I acquired ROC citizenship, However, I was later natualized to US citizenship.
Now, I entered Taiwan with ROC passport (I think it’s required to do so given that I have ROC citizenship), and am wondering what I should do when returning to US. In other words, I don’t have arrival or departure information recorded in my US passport, so how can I enter US using US passport? I was told that one way to go about solving this problem is to go to a third country before returning to US. On the other hand, I am wondering if it’s okay for me to just show both passports when I enter US (since US government recognizes dual nationality exists)?
Can someone share their experiences or legal advise? Any input is greatly appriciated.
From oriented.org:
(For individuals holding U.S. and R.O.C. passports only) If you enter Taiwan on your U.S. passport, you will be treated as a U.S. citizen and must have the appropriate R.O.C. Visitor or Resident Visa to enter. When you exit Taiwan, you must also use your U.S. passport in order to comply with the restrictions of the visa you originally obtained. The same process applies when you enter the U.S. on your R.O.C. passport – you must have the appropriate U.S. visa or documentation on your R.O.C. passport to enter and leave the country (although rarely do dual nationals engage in the latter).
If you exit the U.S. on your U.S. passport and then enter the R.O.C. on your R.O.C. passport, use your R.O.C. passport again when you depart from Taiwan. At that time, you may also have your U.S. passport stamped, indicating to the U.S. authorities where you have been. The R.O.C. Government openly recognizes dual nationalities and will stamp more than one passport upon exiting the R.O.C. If you do not get your U.S. passport stamped, the U.S. immigration authorities may question your whereabouts when you re-enter the U.S. Again – you may only show ONE passport when entering the R.O.C. but may show MORE THAN ONE when leaving.
Unfortunately, some of the above information is incorrect.
Considering the situation of a dual ROC/USA national –
In the ROC, you may enter the “country” (actually Taiwan is not a country) with your ROC passport or USA passport.
In the USA, you must enter the country with a USA passport.
The problem that the original poster (sursino) indicated in reality does not exist. You may leave the USA on your USA passport, fly to Taiwan on your private jet, enter Taiwan on your ROC passport, go to a beach party in Kenting, leave Taiwan on your ROC passport, and fly back to California, New York, Honolulu or wherever, entering US customs with your USA passport. There is no problem there whatsoever.
From the US customs point of view, what your dual nationality status currently entitles you to is visa-free entry into the ROC area. Hence, there is no record of you entering another country in your USA passport. It doesn’t matter.
Thanks for all the replies, I appriciate them.
I was told that stamping on both passports is no longer allowed when leaving Taiwan.
I would like to follow up Hartzell’s reply by asking what does the US custom look for in USA passport when entering USA?Given that of course they want to make sure that the passport presented to them is authentic, don’t they look for the stamps indicateing admittence and departure of other country (countries)? I used to use my USA passport to enter and leave Taiwan, and my USA passport would have stamps indicating the dates when I was admitted into and departed from Taiwan.
I am glad to learn that there is no need to go to thrid country before returning to US (which makes alot of sense to me), but I am asking the additional question because I am lacking knowledge in this kind of matters. Thanks for Hartzell and anyone else who’s helping me out.
Anyone has answers to sursino’s last questions regarding US custom/US passports? I want to know, too.
Thank you
I am a dual national and have came and gone many times. US immigration/customs have never given me any problems or even asked questions when I’ve handed them my US passport. There has been times when I’ve entered Taiwan, they are curious where my last exit point was, but I just tell them I have 2 passports. They’ve never asked to see it.
I don’t think that’s true. The change in policy was that your stay in Taiwan may not be longer than two months if you want the extra passport to be stamped.
On my last entrace to US I didn’t actually do that. But I’ve been going to various places with the US passports and it’s stamped all over. They didn’t look close enough to even ask the question.
I thought the visa-free entry only grants you two weeks. If you stayed over that period and the US custom keep tracks of when you leave as well as return(do they?), then it doesn’t work so well does it?
It works fine.