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I have two passports, both US and China. I want to visit China with my Chinese passport for its convenience. Therefore, when I book my round-trip ticket to China, I have to enter my Chinese passport info and show them to the airline staff. So here comes the questions:

  1. Since it was a round-trip ticket, my returning ticket also shows my Chinese passport info, if I show my green card to the airline staff, will they be able to verify the validity of my green card? (Since my green card automatically becomes invalid after I became a US citizen) In other words, will the APIS system verify visa/green card info other than just return a security clearance (check 'no-fly list' etc)?

  2. Since I already entered my Chinese passport info as the APIS record, when I enter the US immigration, I have to use my US passport, but obviously the passport information won't match with the APIS record, will CBP consider this as a big problem?

I know somebody will ask me to enter my US passport info for APIS record for both departure and arrival flights, but I'm worried that the airline will submit these information to Chinese authorities, then they will know I have a US passport, but I don't have Chinese visa on it, also they may confiscate my Chinese passport.

Jan
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solomo-moloso
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  • @JonathanReez No, it's not, the China-related dual-citizenship question is way more complicated, because you don't want the Chinese authority know you have a foreign passport, they will invalidate your Chinese passport immediately if they do, if I'm on a common scenario, like UK/US dual-citizenship, I wouldn't bother to ask this question. – silent Apr 16 '16 at 22:01
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    It seems you're trying to retain Chinese citizenship in violation of Chinese law. Why not just abide by the law, give up your Chinese citizenship, and get a Chinese visa in your US passport? – phoog Apr 16 '16 at 22:01
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    @abottleofwater That scenario is completely covered in the linked question. In brief, the answer is to travel via a third country (on separate tickets). – Michael Hampton Apr 16 '16 at 22:05
  • Oh I forgot to mention, you're also violating US law by using your green card when it's invalid. How did your even keep it? They normally take them when you naturalize. However, with reference to your point two, if you manage to board with your Chinese passport in APIS, the US border guardwon't care if you present the US passport. – phoog Apr 16 '16 at 22:31
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    @MichaelHampton I think OP could have been referred to the canonical before booking and the problem would have been solved, but alas OP didn't and now has this question. The canonical doesn't cover if there is anything you can do when you are set on flying directly. And I think OP could be fine with some passport and greencard juggling. Bottom line: the question is not a duplicate. – Belle Apr 17 '16 at 00:56
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    It's not violating US law if the OP uses their green card to fly on the airline and then presents their US passport to US immigration (which neither the airline nor chinese authorities would know about). – DJClayworth Apr 17 '16 at 03:16
  • @DJClayworth how can it be legal for someone who is not a lawful permanent resident alien in the United States to identify himself as such with a green card? – phoog Apr 17 '16 at 05:10
  • @phoog: "It seems you're trying to retain Chinese citizenship in violation of Chinese law. Why not just abide by the law, give up your Chinese citizenship" Technically, the OP can't "give up Chinese citizenship" because according to Chinese (PRC) law he already doesn't have Chinese citizenship. – user102008 Apr 17 '16 at 06:33
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    @phoog: "how can it be legal for someone who is not a lawful permanent resident alien in the United States to identify himself as such with a green card?" He's not identifying himself as a permanent resident to the US government. He is identifying himself as a US permanent resident to Chinese border control and/or an airline. – user102008 Apr 17 '16 at 06:35
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    @phoog Identifying himself as such to airline staff (not immigration officials) may be immoral but is probably not illegal. – DJClayworth Apr 17 '16 at 11:19
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    I think this question is not a duplicate, so I took the situation to meta. http://meta.travel.stackexchange.com/q/3628/36405. I considered taking it to chat but I'm still in China so chat (jQuery) doesn't work. – Belle Apr 17 '16 at 12:23
  • @user102008 surely using an invalid document fraudulently is illegal even ifit's being shown to another party. Besides, he retained it fraudulently when he naturalized. In order to get a naturalization certificate you have to return your green card or affirm that it was lost or stolen. – phoog Apr 17 '16 at 13:35
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    @DJClayworth I haven't yet found a law that makes it illegal to use an invalid green card, but they do make you give them back when you naturalize, so he probably defrauded the US government in order to retain it. And I still can't believe there's no law under which is illegal to use the card, so I'm still looking. – phoog Apr 17 '16 at 13:39
  • @user102008 I was considering saying "give up your Chinese passport" target than "citizenship" for that reason. I chose "citizenship" because I was thinking more along the lines of "stop holding on to the idea that you are a Chinese citizen" – phoog Apr 17 '16 at 13:43
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    I'm a UK citizen living in the USA. It took me a total of one day to get a visa for a visit to China. Are you sure the "convenience" of using the Chinese passport is worth the hassle of trying to hide your actual citizenship? – Patricia Shanahan May 03 '16 at 13:58
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about advice for circumventing the law. – Nate Eldredge May 03 '16 at 15:05
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    You've got a much bigger problem here: When you try to board the flight from China to the US you're stuck. You entered China on your Chinese passport so you must exit on your Chinese passport--but you can't exit on your Chinese passport because it doesn't show a visa for the US so they won't let you board. If you're trying to hide your dual nationality you must do it as two tickets going through a third country. – Loren Pechtel May 03 '16 at 21:11
  • @LorenPechtel You can show the airline a different passport to that which you show to exit control – Calchas May 24 '16 at 10:15
  • I'm voting to re-open as we do give similar advice e.g. here: http://travel.stackexchange.com/q/52100/32134 – mts Oct 18 '16 at 19:57
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    @mts It would maybe make sense to mark this as a duplicate of the question you link, no? – JoErNanO Oct 19 '16 at 09:35
  • @JoErNanO yes, absolutely, which unfortunately can only be done after re-opening. Not sure if a mod can change the close-reason directly. – mts Oct 19 '16 at 09:51
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    @mts Flagged for mod attention asking to reopen and close this as a duplicate. – JoErNanO Oct 19 '16 at 10:01

1 Answers1

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There are at least four separate problems here. The following answer is speculative, but short of somebody working in Chinese immigration chiming in, you're unlikely to get a better answer.

Problem 1: Will the airline let you leave the US with a Chinese passport?

Likely answer: yes. In my experience, the US and its airlines understands the concept of multiple passports and are OK with it. If you show up at the US airport with a return trip to China and back and a Chinese passport, you'll be asked if you have a visa to return to the US: showing your American passport will easily solve this.

Now, it's possible they'll record your American passport details at this point and that those somehow filter down to somebody in China in a position to notice and care. However, on the occasions I've had to show multiple passports in the US, I don't think this has ever been the case. YMMV.

Problem 2: Will the airline in China let you board with a Chinese passport?

This is likely the most challenging bit. You'll need to show your green card or US passport to the airline at this point, and they will likely have to enter the details into the system so the US will let you in. Does this data also get piped to Chinese officials, and so fast that the immigration officer at the counter a few dozen meters away sees it? Seems unlikely, but China being a police state, who knows?

Problem 3: Will Chinese immigration let you through with an invalid green card?

Almost certainly yes. First, exit immigration is primarily concerned with whether you're a wanted criminal etc in China, whether you have a visa or not is a problem for the airline and not them. Even if they do check your green card, the US and China are not exactly best buddies, so I would be astonished if Chinese immigration had direct access to US immigration records.

Problem 4: Will the US let you in if your APIS data was with a Chinese passport?

This one there's no doubt: yes, they have to, you're an American citizen and have an absolute right to enter your own country.

So all in all, I'll go against prevailing opinion: I think your odds of pulling this off are fairly high. However, there is definitely a non-zero risk, and it would be safer to follow the process here to transit via a third country.

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lambshaanxy
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    "Does this data also get piped to Chinese officials, and so fast that the immigration officer at the counter a few dozen meters away sees it?": if they get the data more slowly then the traveler will probably be able to retain the Chinese passport longer, but could be stripped of it on the next visit or could be unable to renew it when the time comes. – phoog May 04 '16 at 04:07
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    @phoog Not outside the realm of possibility. – lambshaanxy May 04 '16 at 04:11
  • you'll be asked if you have a visa to return to the US => you could also say 'no', they don't really care. – JonathanReez Jan 10 '24 at 05:25