I am a French/Australian citizen, currently living in France. I want to use my Australian passport to travel in the USA because my French passport is not electronic.

Can I enter the US on an Australian passport even if I live in France knowing that I am a dual citizen?

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    I'm sure US officials are used to dealing with people who live in one place but are citizens of another, that should not be a problem for you, it's a very common scenario – blackbird Sep 25 '15 at 17:27
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    Here's a similar scenario to yours – blackbird Sep 25 '15 at 17:28

US immigration doesn't need to know you're a dual citizen. Even if they do, they won't care which passport you choose to use. The US government even says you can just choose which passport to use (https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1096/~/esta---eligible-passport,-country-of-issuance,-citizenship).

The fact that you live in France does not mean that the US will require you to travel as a French citizen. The only country where you must present yourself as a French citizen is France.

It is fine to leave France with your French passport and enter the US with your Australian. In short, don't worry about it.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that the ESTA application asks you to disclose all of your citizenships. So the statement that "US immigration doesn't need to know you're a dual citizen" is not true.

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  • (+1) Even France does not care all that much I think. – Relaxed Sep 25 '15 at 18:23
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    I suppose not. Most European countries seem to be far more, well, @Relaxed about this than the US. But they could be stricter about it if they wanted to. It just occurred to me, however, with the Pope in town, what about dual nationals who are also heads of state? A head of state is required to apply for an A visa, even for unofficial travel. But could the former German pope have followed the ESTA advice and chosen to travel on his German passport, seeking a visa waiver? – phoog Sep 25 '15 at 22:35
  • Since immigration authorities in the Schengen area use entry and exit stamps in the passport alone to document the travel history of non-EEA citizens, a dual EEA/non-EEA citizen will most likely run himself into a lot of unnecessary hazzle if he uses his non-EEA passport to enter or exit the Schengen area, at least if he is not consequently using one of the passports or if using the non-EEA passport not obeying the time limits for short term visitors. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Sep 26 '15 at 12:28
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    Having an unreasonable 'stamp history' from the Schengen area, may of course also be a problem when being in contact with immigration officers from a completely different country if they for some reason are interested in your previous travel history, e.g. in connection with a visa application or similar. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Oct 23 '15 at 0:05
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    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo EU/EEA citizens have the right to remain in the EU/EEA under freedom of movement. It does not matter how they entered, nor whether they identified themselves as EU/EEA citizens at the time of entry. – phoog Oct 23 '15 at 23:29

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