Morality, US/Canadian Dual Citizenship, Travel & Passport Questions

LegacyUser

I'm going unregged for a variety of reasons. I don't really know where else to put this, and an Irish board isn't really a good place for it anyway, but I know a lot of users here are either American/Canadian or have a good grasp of American/Canadian laws in general, so it doesn't hurt to try.

I only really want a general view anyway and some personal experiences and morality-based opinions, I am doing the backbone of the research regarding the specific laws myself.

Also, I know this isn't the right section but I couldn't think of another place to put it.

Anyway, the facts:
-I was born in the States but moved to Canada when I was 7 and lived there the remainder of my current 22 years excluding travel.
-My father was an American citizen and never had Canadian citizenship.
-My mother is a Canadian citizen and never had American citizenship.
-I currently hold a Canadian passport.
-I had dual citizenship when I first arrived in Canada. I don't know if this has ended or not; does it automatically end at 18/was I supposed to make some sort of nationality decision? Anyone know?

Basically what I'm wondering is this: Do I still have dual citizenship? Would I have any trouble regaining dual citizenship if I have somehow lost it? Is it possible to hold two passports (both American and Canadian) at once, or can I only legally use one?

I want to know these things due to a kind of naive cockup that happened I guess nearly two years ago.
I had a visa in the UK for six months. When they allowed me in, I had somehow managed to get in on a six month travel visa with no bank statement, no return plane ticket, etc. They lectured me but did nothing about it-- I was young and naive about the whole thing if I'm honest, was clueless about flying.
Anyway, I went back to Canada when my visa was up in December of 2007. I, stupidly, tried to go back to visit my boyfriend-at-the-time in mid-March. When I got to the airport in Manchester after a 7 hour trip and handed in all proper documents this time including bank statement, return ticket for early April, etc. (at least I learned my lesson!), they took my biometrics, extensively interviewed myself and my boyfriend-at-the-time, and denied me entry to the country because they had decided that it was too much time spent in the country within a span of 12 months.

What this means is I'm basically left with a gigantic X in my passport saying I'd been denied into the UK.
When I came here to Ireland last year they gave me quite a lot of hassle about it and I know when I travel again I will get more hassle.. which is why I'm thinking if I get an American passport it may make things easier in the future as they won't go looking for my Canadian one right away and thus the "history" gets overlooked. It sounds shady, but I didn't do anything wrong and it's a bollocks of a reason to turn someone away-- I love to travel and hate the fact that I have to go through so much hassle just because I was young and naive and in love.

Would that even work? How extensively do they check your history when you fly? Especially cross-continent? Would it get me in trouble..?

Also, has anyone else had experience being turned away in a different country for a "light" reason? Were you able to return, and if so, how much of a hassle was it?

I know this post is kind of incoherent and addresses a couple of different things, but I suppose you can pick it apart and answer it as you feel most comfortable.

Cheers to anyone who makes it through.

snowyeoghan

Once you are a citizen they can't take it from you. If you had US citizenship then, you still have it.

You can therefore apply for a US passport and then travel on whichever passport one you wish. I travel on two passports, Irish & American, depending where in the World I'm going. For instance, I use the American one for traveling into the states and then the Irish one entering Ireland (Although, I think they seriously frown upon this - but what they don't know won't hurt them).

Hope this helps

Pete4779

You can apply and get a US passport because you were born there and one of your parents is a US citizen. There were rules about maintaining some sort of consistent residency for a period of years before age 18 AFAIK, but I don't think so in your case.

The only catch will be that as a US citizen you may have become liable to pay US taxes or basically fill out a load of IRS forms for the 4 years since age 18 that you might have been working.

You don't seem to have done anything wrong, but the UK is as strict as the US if you spend "too much" time (e.g., > 3 months , > 6 months) in the country on holidays and don't have a valid permit.

hungryhippo

Could you 'lose' your Canadian passport and get a 'clean' one reissued?

metrovelvet

If you were born in the US you have had and always will be a citizen. Contact your local embassy for a passport application.

As for the taxes you would have to be earning a hell of a lot of money to have to pay any. Don't sweat it.

killwill

You cannot have "dual" citizenship anymore but you are entitled to hold and use both passports. For whatever reason it s not possible to obtain dual citizenship anywhere now. I tried for my daughter as she is half Canadian.

Xiney

You can have dual citizenship - I've got it. In fact, in a year I can apply for triple citizenship.

Honestly OP, if the problem is simply that other countries' immigration officers are seeing this mark on your passport and making prejudgements, then there is no problem with obtaining a different passport, either by losing this one or getting the american passport to which you are entitled.

metrovelvet

Yes you can have dual citizenship. I have it and my son is in the middle of getting it.

As for the morality part of your question - what exactly is your question?

OS119

your 'black mark' (Name, DoB and biometrics) will be held on the UK database, so just getting a different passport from a different country won't make any difference to your chances of getting into the UK again - indeed it may make the UKBA suspicious and deny you entry on the grounds of 'dodgyness'.

if you wish to re-enter the UK again without hassle i suggest you write to the British High Commission, explain the situation - be very honest - apologise for your mistake, and ask if you might be allowed to re-enter the UK. only when the UKBA reply should you think about getting a new Canadian or US passport that doesn't have a dirty great 'Fcuk off!' in it.

you can enter the UK through the RoI, though they may deny you entry given the common, unpoliced land border between the UK and RoI (effectively on behalf of the UKBA), or just on the basis that if someone else didn't like you, they'll deny you entry as well.

if you do not wish to enter the UK again, just 'lose' your current passport and hope the replacement hasn't got a big smelly cloud around it when you present it at your next destination.

on the moral bit, if you're entitled to a nations passport then you're entitled to it, you are absolutely within your rights - as set out by those states themselves - to claim and use those documents.

but don't try fooling them, it won't work - and if it does work in the short term and you get found out, you'll be in very, very deep shit.

The_Conductor

As per the above- there is no issue whatsoever with having dual citizenship, and 2 (or more) passports, issued as a citizen of multiple countries.

There are legalities from a US perspective which you will need to enquire into properly. I'm not familiar enough with their laws- but it is my belief that the INS do not allow multiple passports (whereas the Canadian/Irish/UK/Israeli etc do). What most of my relatives do is have an Irish and a US passport- and they use the US passport for entering and leaving the US- and their Irish passport for everything else.

With respect of your stamp on your passport- put it down to experience. I'm proud of the stamp in my old passport- from when I got deported from Serbia......

metrovelvet

smccarrick wrote: »

With respect of your stamp on your passport- put it down to experience. I'm proud of the stamp in my old passport- from when I got deported from Serbia......

That is great. Id love to have a deportation stamp on mine from somewhere like that.

Im dying to know the story behind that btw.

The_Conductor

metrovelvet wrote: »

That is great. Id love to have a deportation stamp on mine from somewhere like that.

Im dying to know the story behind that btw.

Not too exciting unfortunately- I did a lot of work on the continent when I was in secondary school and uni during the summers- and fell asleap on a train when I shouldn't have done- and ended up at a Serbian borderpost. It was in 1992-3 and Irish/EU citizens were not flavour du jour with the Serbs as a result of the conflict- and I was detained for a day before being sent on my way a little older, a little wiser......

BumbleB

I'm a dual citizen and my experience is that as a dual citizen you will get S**t from immigration in every country.The Irish immigration being the most ignorant of them all followed by the Yanks .

This may be untrue but I heard from someone that England has some kind of agreement that usa passport holders can obtain uk passports .

Anyhow from my experience its no hassle to get into britain with an american passport .