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[GoesStation]

I was regularly informed by such travellers that the form would need to ask for "Citizenship" if we wanted them to complete it with either "American" or "USA".

Well, at least they'd be familiar with the word "citizenship". I guess I shouldn't be surprised that many of my fellow citizens are ill-informed. If they were confused, they could have looked at their US passports, where one line says "Nationality: United States of America".

[emsr2d2]

The forms don't say "Citizenship" because that has a different meaning in the UK! Ah, the differences just grow and grow.

[GoesStation]

There are a few US nationals who, emulating their more numerous UK cousins, are not US citizens.

[probus]

There are a few US nationals who, emulating their more numerous UK cousins, are not US citizens.

What an arcane and interesting point. Thank you for the link.

[Tdol]

I believe British dual nationals can enter and leave by with the passport of their choice- a British dual national with an Indian passport told me he exited the UK when going to India with his Indian passport to make things simpler on arrival there. I guess he'll re-enter the UK with a British passport to reduce queuing time if possible.

[Rover_KE]

That is true. My daughter has dual nationality and uses her US passport flying out and her UK one on returning.

[emsr2d2]

Absolutely. Usually, dual nationals use whichever passport is most convenient (queuing times, visa requirements) for the country they're entering. There are a few nationalities for which that doesn't work - sometimes, when someone re-enters their own country, their passport is examined for a stamp from the country they have just arrived from. In those circumstances, using a different passport for one's departure and arrival could cause problems. Fortunately, that's not the case for European countries and most western countries, as far as I'm aware.

[GoesStation]

I am myself in the process of establishing a second citizenship. The United States has no passport control on exiting the country, but if you leave by air, the airline has to report your passport number and nationality to the authorities. Therefore, dual citizens should enter their US passport number on airline reservations for flights from the US. They can then present their other passport, if they like, to enter their destination country.