Thread: Citizenship

Originally Posted by DDT

If you travel on your Ukrainian Passport, however, you will not be able to call on the US Embassy for help, because you will have entered Ukraine as a Ukrainian, even if you have your US passport with you. But you still should be able to leave Ukraine with your US passport.

A recipe for disaster. You should enter and leave Ukraine using the same Passport (either US or Ukrainian one), or you'll waste hours on unpleasant explanations at best, and at worst they'll take away your Ukrainian passport.

What passport you use inside the country doesn't matter, just don't flash both of them on the border.

Very helpful So even if Ukraine doesn't allow dual citizenship at all, I can still travel to Ukraine on a US passport and carry my Ukrainian passport too? As long as I don't show my Ukrainian passport when entering/leaving? It makes sense, if I show my US passport, how would they know if I have a Ukrainian one as well? So you think that if I travel to Ukraine this way, I will have no problems? I really want to keep my Ukrainian passport, it is useful to have dual passports, right? I just don't want to risk my safety.

I appreciate all your help

That's right, you don't need to carry both passports just because you have two. You can leave your Ukrainian passport in America if you want. Just don't show your Ukrainian passport at the border. I don't see how you could be in danger. Both your passports are legal until they are taken away. Just don't cause questions by showing two at the border. If it was me and even if i was asked for my Ukrainian passport, because they somehow found out, I would say i left it in USA because I am traveling as an American.
The only problem I see for you is when your Ukrainian passport expires and you want to renew it at a Ukrainian embassy in the USA, you may have to show them how it is that you are in USA. They may refuse to renew it if they find out you are American also. But, as I said before, you may get lucky and there is a small chance they change their rules by then. But it may also be possible to go back to Ukraine on your US passport and while in Ukraine renew your Ukrainian passport.

By the way it is not illegal to have several passports. So when i say don't show them both at the border, I say this just for your case in Ukraine, since your fear that they will take the Ukrainian. I have showed two passports in other countries sometimes by accident and sometimes because they wanted to see an entry stamp and I had showed them the wrong one. Many people have more than one.
After living in Russia for a year I have learned to not say or do things that will raise questions. Authorities don't like unusual situations!

as far as i know it's the same if you get a russian passport, you have to renounce your other one, but for england at least this is just a formality and your rights as a bristish citizen will always be recognised. same for america if i remember correctly.
you should find out, a few people on expat.ru have duel and have renounced one or another passport with no problem

Just to add some more noise to the discussion...

My missus has both British and Russian citizenship as do lots of people. Once upon a time her Russian international passport had expired and she needed to fly home at short notice for a funeral and so she travelled on her British passport (with a visa). However, when she tried to do this again earlier on this year the Russian embassy in London refused to issue her a visa, insisting that anyone who has Russian citizenship must enter Russia on a Russian passport. Apparently the law had always been thus but they only started enforcing it recently.

However, she still has no trouble showing both passports when she leaves Russia in order to prove that she has entry-clearance to the UK.

I understand, I appreciate all of your help a lot Thank you so much.

I think what to do now is to call the Ukrainian embassy. I know that Ukraine doesn't recognize foreign passports, but if I enter with a US passport only then I hope to have no problems. I would love to keep my ukrainain citizenship. I know that if you are adopted and go to ukraine under age 18 they could keep you there claiming the adoption wasn't legal and such making you pay big money.. but for me I am over 18 so they cannot do this to me right? I agree with a US passport I have more protection than with a Ukrainian passport. I hate that this is so complicated