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The most upvoted answer to Travelling with two different passports claims

If you hold a passport for the country you are entering, many countries' laws require you to show that passport.

What if I have a passport from a Schengen-area country and I am entering the Schengen-area? Does this requirement apply?

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  • Mentioning the countries in this particular question is essential to answer it. – Nean Der Thal Feb 18 '15 at 17:51
  • I have a Hungarian passport and which country I enter into the Schengen are if not Hungary shouldn't matter? –  Feb 18 '15 at 18:01
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    No, the rule does not apply. But if you're trying to avoid detention on your Hungarian passport and get caught anyway, it gets very complicated about your rights to support from the foreign consulate. – Gayot Fow Feb 18 '15 at 21:48
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    @GayotFow that's great and probably should be an answer (especially if you have an authorative source). I don't actually try to avoid detention at least I haven't heard of any warrants against myself (and can't imagine a reason for one). –  Feb 18 '15 at 22:40

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If no other rules (like you are a citizen) apply, then you can choose whichever passport is more convenient for you. If you have one Schengen and one non-Schengen passport it would make little sense to use the non-Schengen passport in Europe, unless you really like lines and forms.

paul
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    Actually I often use my 'non-birth' passport to enter my birth country (of which I am still a citizen) because 1) my non-birth passport is the more generally useful 2) I don't want the expense of owning two passports 3) I am usually travelling with my wife, who does not have that citizenship. So I'm going to have to wait in the lines anyway. – DJClayworth Feb 18 '15 at 23:51
  • @DJClayworth It will probably be easier if you do present the current-country passport along with the family. Easier entry procedure in most cases. In Europe, I wait until the EU line is empty and simply ask if the wife and I can go through here. The answer is usually yes, although wifey always thinks we will get into trouble. – paul Feb 19 '15 at 23:13
  • @DJClayworth In the Schengen area, if one of your passports is an EU, EEA, or Swiss passport, and your wife's citizenship is not, then you can anyway take her to the EU/EEA/CH line. This is explicit in the Schengen Borders Code. Similarly, I (dual US/EU) have been repeatedly told to do this in the US when traveling even with a girlfriend who didn't live with me (or even in the same country), but I haven't found an explicit regulation on this. I was, however, once told in the UK that I should not have brought my non-EU girlfriend with me to the EU passports line, but they processed her anyway. – phoog Mar 15 '18 at 14:09