|
So I'm in a strange situation. I'm a dual national citizen. I hold both a British and a GCC passport. The GCC country I am a citizen of is firmly against dual nationality, and - as a result of this policy - I have to keep my British citizenship a secret. In the past, I used to just use my GCC passport to leave / enter the GCC country, and use my British passport in every other country. This worked fine. However, lately, with all the biometric scanning technology, I don't want to risk any repercussions from the GCC country I am a citizen of. I also recently had a rather harrowing experience whereby I was informally interrogated when trying to renew my GCC passport and it was altogether uncomfortable and a situation I do not want to repeat. It is also a very strange look when returning to my GCC country and not having any entry or exit stamps in the passport. I imagine this could raise some eyebrows. This brings me to my question: does having a British passport help me in any way at all with regards to getting visas in my GCC passport? Could I technically travel with both passports, show my British passport at European countries but ask them to stamp my GCC passport? Would they refuse to stamp a GCC passport without a valid visa? I'm asking because I want to go on holiday very soon but realise I may have left it too late with regards to getting a visa on my GCC passport.
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2023 20:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 19:20 |
|
|
Officially, you travel strictly under one or the other, and whichever you use is the one your entry permits are based on and the one they stamp. In practise, individual border officials may or may not be in the mood to bend the rules and be helpful by looking at one passport while stamping another. It's not uncommon for them to do so, but it is reliant on the border agent deciding to in a minor way break the law to help you out, so not necessarily something you would want to count on especially long term. Are you at some point travelling directly from a European country to the GCC country? If not, the simplest option could be to use your British passport when entering and leaving a European country, but then use the GCC passport to enter and leave a third country in between, even if it's just popping out of the airport for an extended layover. Entering and leaving a country should very much be done on the same passport (not just as a legal technicality, but also to avoid having an interrogation experience abroad and considerable trouble later), but leaving one and entering the next one have no such requirements. For actually getting a visa on your GCC passport, officially having a British passport doesn't affect it. In practise, being British on the side may or may not affect the attitude of whoever actually handles your application, but that's even more reliant on hoping individual biases work out in your favour than hoping a border control agent is helpful with what they stamp.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2023 21:59
|
|
|
Having a third country as a break between the two passports will help with the primary inspection (guy at desk that everyone has to talk to on the way in) but if you ever get pulled into a secondary (room where you get interviewed) it may not take much investigation to find the PNRs associated with the legs of travel you used your UK passport for and they can ask you about that travel. You can try the "they didn't stamp my passport, weird huh" gambit but that's far from guaranteed and becomes less effective the more you use it. Biometrics aren't really the threat here, it's the data sharing agreements among states that you have to pay attention to and you'll have to figure that out on your own since every state has different relationships. Details of some of these agreements aren't public knowledge; if you have friends in the internal security service or national police of your GCC home you may be able to get an idea from them. Your safest strategy is to use the GCC passport for all your travel except to the UK; most states hold that if you're a citizen you have to enter on their passport. In that case you probably want to pay cash for a boat or train to visit the UK; ideally this will minimize the discoverable information you leave behind with the transport operator but that may not be feasible now that the UK is out of the EU. You will of course leave a record of entry to the UK and wherever the other end of that travel leg is.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 05:26
|
|
