Traveling with two passports comes with many benefits such as enjoying travel to more countries with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, choosing the passport that offers the best entry conditions, and better residency options. For dual citizens, it’s crucial to understand the legal considerations, learn when to use each passport, and how to manage travel documents.

In this article, we cover how to travel with two passports and what common travel scenarios you may encounter.

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Key Takeaways 

• Before traveling with two passports, learn about legal obligations and military service, the tax system, and the countries that don’t recognize dual citizenship.
• Before traveling with two passports, make sure that both of them are valid for at least 6 months. 
• Even if one of your passports grants you a visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the country you’re going to enter, it’s always advisable to hold both of your passports during the trip.

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Legal Considerations for Traveling with Two Passports

As a person who holds dual citizenship and wants to learn more about how to travel with two passports, you should take into account the following legal considerations.

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Countries That Don’t Recognize Dual Citizenship

According to World Atlas, countries like China, Japan, Kuwait, and Haiti don’t recognize dual citizenship, hence they may require you to renounce one citizenship upon acquiring another. In this kind of country traveling with 2 passports may be illegal and if you try to enter the country with the “wrong” passport, it may even lead to deportation.

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Legal Obligations and Military Service

While traveling with two passports, remember that there are some countries that may require military service from you if you enter their area with their passport.

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Taxes

Traveling with two passports may oblige you to become a subject of double taxation.

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When to Use Each Passport

One of the greatest benefits of holding two passports is traveling with greater flexibility. However, you should learn how to use your passports in various situations.

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Entering and Exiting Your Home Countries

The most important rule is to use the passport of the country you’re entering or exiting. For example, if you’re a dual citizen of the UK and Oman, you need to use or UK passport for entering or leaving the UK, and an Oman passport for entering or leaving Oman. By doing so, you ensure immigration authorities that you are their citizen and the whole process becomes easier for you.

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Traveling Between Other Countries

While traveling between other countries, you need to use a passport that provides you visa-free access or already has a visa stamp in it.

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Carrying Both Passports

You’re probably wondering do dual citizens need to travel with both passports? Well, it’s not required, but it’s considered the best practice because it serves as a backup if the other passport has any issues.

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Managing Visas with Two Passports

When you hold two passports, you’ll need to do thorough research while managing visas in order to understand which passport will provide your travel with greater ease.

Before applying for a visa, check if one of the passports grants you visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to your destination. If so, there’s no need to apply for a visa. Additionally, if one of your passports is linked to a residency permit to another country, always use that passport to enter or leave that country.

If you want to travel to country A and none of your passports grants you visa-free entry, research to understand which passport to use for visa application. Consider looking for the answers to questions like “What countries does country A grant with visa with greater ease?”.

In addition, if you already have a visa stamp on one of your passports, but the other passport grants you with visa-free access to the country you want to enter, make sure that you hold both of your passports. If there are any issues with the second passport, you can always show the one that has a visa stamp in it.

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Common Travel Scenarios and How to Handle Them

Here are some of the common scenarios that will help you understand how to travel with 2 passports.

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Traveling to a Visa-free Country

If one of your passports grants a visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to your destination, it’s advisable to hold that passport while entering the country. However, to make sure that the process will go smoother, it’s advisable to keep your second passport with you during the trip.

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Layovers in Third Countries

For layovers in third countries, make sure you use the passport that grants the best visa conditions. If none of your passports has visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the country, apply with the passport which will ensure an easier process.

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Leaving your home country to enter another country

If you are going to leave country A to enter country B, and you have a passport from country A, you should use it during the departure. However, if your visa stamp for country B is in another passport, you should use that one to enter the country.

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Traveling Between Countries with No Physical Exit Checks

There are some countries like US or UK, that don’t have physical exit checks. This may seem that you can use either of your passports and it doesn’t make any difference. However, it’s important to use the same passport for entering and leaving the country because the authorities will still monitor your departure, and using not the same passport that you used for the entry may cause difficulties during your future visits.

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Traveling with an Expired or Almost Expired Passport

Most of the countries require a passport that has more than 6 months of validation. If your passport has already expired and you decide to travel with another one, it’s advisable to still keep your expired passport with you to verify your citizenship.

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Entering Countries that Don’t Permit Dual Citizenship

Try to find out whether the country you travel to allows dual citizenship or not. If not, during your stay try to use the same passport that was used for the entry.

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Managing Travel Documents

Traveling with two passports requires a careful approach. First of all, make sure that you carry both of your passports with you. Do some research and understand which country you can present both of your passports to, and which cannot. Keep track of visa requirements for both of the passports. Understand which country you need to have a visa stamp for and which passport would grant an easier path to obtain one. Additionally, make sure that both of your passports are valid for at least 6 months.

If you’ve renewed your passports, don’t forget to update the linked travel profiles, airline memberships, and visa applications as well.

Protect your travel documents in a safe and waterproof place.

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How Citizenship by Investment Can Offer Two Passports

Citizenship by Investment Programs (CBI) are government initiatives designed to attract foreign investments and contributions to their country’s economy and, as an exchange, grant citizenship to an applicant. Depending on the country, the requirements and application steps are different. However, there are several points that need to be considered for almost all the countries. 

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Find a Trustworthy Agency

Obtaining citizenship by investment can be a tough challenge for individuals who decide to go through the whole process on their own. Governments usually update the requirements for the application, hence understanding the eligibility criteria and preparing the necessary documents may be a bit difficult. That’s why it’s advisable to consult with industry experts who will help you obtain citizenship effortlessly and shortly.

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Understand the Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for your second passport, most countries require:

• To be 18 years old or more
• To be in good health
• To have a clean criminal record
• To have sufficient funds
• To have local insurance 

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Consider the Duration of the Process

People who research how to get a second passport have probably faced several main ways such as citizenship by investment, citizenship by marriage, and citizenship by naturalization. Each of these paths requires a different timeslot. For example, citizenship by investment program can require 12-14 months, while obtaining citizenship by naturalization can take up to 7 years.

CBI programs are attractive as they allow investors to shortly obtain their second citizenship.

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Prepare all the necessary Documents

Here is the list of documents that are required to prepare before applying for the second passport:

• Valid passport
• Passport-sized photographs
• Birth certificate
• Proof of local Insurance
• Financial records (proof that you are able to make investments)

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Apply for a Second Passport

After preparing all the necessary documents, you’ll need to apply for citizenship through an investment program and wait for the government’s response.

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Contribution to the Country’s Economy

Once your application is pre-approved, you need to make a significant contribution to the country’s economy. It can be as a real estate purchase, investment in government bonds, establishing your own business, opening new job positions, donations to public development funds, or investments in local businesses.

After this step, you’ll need to wait for the government’s final response.

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FAQ

Is having a second passport worth it?

Having a second passport comes with many benefits such as ensuring your family's safety, enhancing financial stability, and making global travel easier. So if you look from this perspective, having a second passport is worth it.

If you marry someone with dual citizenship do you get dual citizenship?

Marrying someone who has dual citizenship will not automatically grant you 2 passports. Instead, you should go through some legal processes, such as being eligible for dual citizenship, gathering all the necessary documents for each country's citizenship, and filling in the applications. 

What is the easiest country to get a second passport?

According to Wise, some of the easiest countries to get a second passport include Paraguay and Ireland.

How long does it take to get a second passport?

Depending on the country and the method you choose to get your second passport, the timeline will be different. If you choose a citizenship by investment program, obtaining a second passport may require 12 months, while getting citizenship with naturalization may have several years of duration.

Conclusion

To sum it up, in this article, we’ve explored how to travel with two passports, what are the legal considerations, how to handle common travel scenarios, and when to use each passport. As a dual citizen, it’s advisable to carry both of your passports during your trips, understand which passport can give you more benefits in your travel destination, and how to make the most of dual citizenship advantages.