As a British national, you are eligible for the Visa Waiver program.belladonna wrote:Hi all,
I am a dual citizen of the UK and Philippines, currently working in Singapore. I am planning to visit the US to visit some friends in a couple of months, and was wondering whether I would be eligible to use my British passport and the Visa Waiver program.
Does anyone on the board have any experience / thoughts on this? I have only ever used my British passport in England and the EU, and in the past I have travelled in the US on a tourist visa issued on my Philippine passport. That visa has since expired, and I am now unsure of what to do... :/
I just had my British passport renewed this year, so it's one of the new biometric machine readable ones, and has no stamps. (My old one had no stamps on it either though, since I only used it to travel in Blighty and the EU). I'm just worried about complications in the US, since I've entered on a different passport before (though never had immigration problems) and I work in Singapore using my Philippine passport. Are most immigration officials familiar with dealing with dual citizens?manutdfan wrote:As a British national, you are eligible for the Visa Waiver program.belladonna wrote:Hi all,
I am a dual citizen of the UK and Philippines, currently working in Singapore. I am planning to visit the US to visit some friends in a couple of months, and was wondering whether I would be eligible to use my British passport and the Visa Waiver program.
Does anyone on the board have any experience / thoughts on this? I have only ever used my British passport in England and the EU, and in the past I have travelled in the US on a tourist visa issued on my Philippine passport. That visa has since expired, and I am now unsure of what to do... :/
I don't recall the form requiring you to declare any entry into the US under a different nationality - but it might on a different name.
This assumes you have no immigration irregularities (specifically you didn't over stay on your tourist visa).
One caveat: some very old UK passports are not machine readable - if yours falls into that category, you will need a visa - most passports issued in the last ten years should be okay - check the page with your photo on - if it has lots of these
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
you'll be fine.
God save the Queen!
(PS - don't forget to register to vote as an overseas voter!)
T.
That is my worry too, that the US may not take my British passport on visa waiver because it doesn't have the residency stamp (or any stamps for that matter haha). Is it worth inquiring at the US embassy about this, or is that basically shooting myself in the foot? Should I just apply for a US visa on my Philippine passport?Strong Eagle wrote:Which passport has your EP stamp in it? Which passport do you normally travel with in and out of Singapore?
I normally travel in and out of Singapore on my US passport. I tried using my UK passport to get into Malaysia and they wouldn't take it because it had no residency stamp.
The US might be the same way. For an EP, it can only be applied to one passport (at least that's the way it was). For PR, you can have multiple passports stamped.
I agree... and the issue may be that you would be entering the US on a UK passport which gives no indication that you left or can return to Singapore.manutdfan wrote:Thats irrelevant - you're a British national, you're entitled to use the VWP.belladonna wrote:My Philippine passport is the one I use in Singapore / stamped with my EP.
Having a second nationality is neither nor there.
Thomas
With a British passport, you can re enter Singapore without any work permit or anything (and if the passport is issued in Singapore, that would explain the lack of work entry) - provided you can leave - the US won't mind.Strong Eagle wrote:
I agree... and the issue may be that you would be entering the US on a UK passport which gives no indication that you left or can return to Singapore.
Call the US embassy for the low down. It's not the passport that is the issue, I don't think, it's demonstrating that it gets you back to Singapore.
I beg to differ re: the I-94!carteki wrote:I regularly enter the US on a passport that I didn't exit the previous country on (and there is no issue with the outstanding I-94). If the immigration officials start asking you questions about "no exit stamp" you can note the following:
1) SG doesn't stamp the passport of residents on exit and entry
2) SG no longer stamps your passport with evidence of your EP - which is annoying as I now have to show the Malaysian officials my EP card separately.
You've completely lost me here Eagle. I have no residency stamp, EP or anything else in my passport, as I'm here on an LTVP. I have no SG entry/exit stamps, nothing. I've never had a problem entering Malaysia or anywhere else.Strong Eagle wrote:Which passport has your EP stamp in it? Which passport do you normally travel with in and out of Singapore?
I normally travel in and out of Singapore on my US passport. I tried using my UK passport to get into Malaysia and they wouldn't take it because it had no residency stamp.
Thanks for the info... I will try to call the number above, though on the US embassy website they cite a different Dept. of Homeland Security address for submission of old I-94's:JR8 wrote:I beg to differ re: the I-94!carteki wrote:I regularly enter the US on a passport that I didn't exit the previous country on (and there is no issue with the outstanding I-94). If the immigration officials start asking you questions about "no exit stamp" you can note the following:
1) SG doesn't stamp the passport of residents on exit and entry
2) SG no longer stamps your passport with evidence of your EP - which is annoying as I now have to show the Malaysian officials my EP card separately.
I used to travel to the States several times a year for, well, over a decade. Finally around 2007 every time I went (by then about 5 times a year) I was carted on to 'Secondary Inspection' upon arrival, not a pleasant experience at all.
After a lot of sweat/work, I discovered that the reason I was being sent to 2ndary was because I had five missing I-94 cards from the '97-'00 period. It must be a heck of a big problem, as I was completely unaware of this. And so their system (called IBIS) presumed I was a former over-stayer. This system only came in around... don't know say 2003-5 and is much more rigorous than what went before.
Ironically I keep all my boarding cards. I try and read a book for every one, and use them as bookmarks. So I could prove quite simply to US Immigration that I had never overstayed.
You should send in that I-94 (for heavens sake keep a photocopy of it first!). The guy to deal with is:-
Jose Leon Guerrero,
United States Customs and Border Protection,
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Rm 5.4D
Washington DC, 20229
He is the ONE guy who deals with amending arr/dep records. If you need further guidance call their office on 202-344-1220. (This info was accurate at mid '07, so might be worth a quick call just to check the details anyway.)
p.s. After many months, many visits, several reassuring 'template' letters, and still being dragged off to 2ndary, I decided just to cut the issue short and get a visa (although the guy above did finally fix my record). That in itself was a pretty hideously intrusive and expensive process. And then the first time I visited the US with my new shiny visa, the immigration guy looked at me and said 'Why did you apply for a visa?' <SIGH>
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