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I have looked around similar questions but none apply directly to my case. For example, this answer is not appropriate for the US and Canada because these countries do not have exit controls. I am a citizen of countries A and B, but I have different names on both, which causes more confusion. I live in Canada with a work visa on passport A, and my passport B is under the ESTA program which I have obtained.

The golden rule of traveling with two passports to me is "enter and leave with the same passport", but I am confused about this particular situation. If I want to visit the United States, what is the correct procedure?

  1. Buy a roundtrip plane ticket using passport A. Then, Canada knows I am leaving the country. When I am at US immigration, I show passport B so that I can enter under the VWP. However, when I leave the US back to Canada, the airline will input that person A is leaving the US, and the US will think I overstayed under B?

  2. Buy a roundtrip plane ticket using passport B. I can enter the US and leave it with no problems. I can then enter my A passport at immigration control in Canada. But since Canada also does not have exit controls, Canada will have seen that person B (that never entered the country) left Canada. Moreover, when I get back to Canada and use passport A, they will also find it strange since in their eyes I had never left Canada in the first place. Would this cause a problem?

  3. Buy two one way tickets. Canada to US under A, then US to Canada under B. Then, I can leave Canada with A (so I closing my entry), then enter and leave US with B (roundtrip with same passport), and enter Canada again with A. It is convoluted, but seems to make sense to me?

cosmia1
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2 Answers2

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You are making this too complicated.

Buy your ticket and give the airline either both passports (you can do that with most airlines) or the VWP country passport (if you can't) . This will get you on the flight. Canada won't care about you exiting.

At the border check in the US show passport B to get you in the States with VWP.

On the return trip show the passport with the visa. If you've entered only the VWP passport to book the return tickets there's no need to change it, just show the visa to the checkin staff and/or gate staff and you will be fine. The US doesn't care about exit. You will of course need to explain why your passports have different names. If you have a good explanation for that it won't be a problem. If you don't have a good explanation it's probably best to pick a name to use and get new passports that match.

At Canadian immigration show the passport with the visa, and the other one if it helps.

DJClayworth
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Here's what I would do, assuming the difference in the names is significant:

  • Buy a round-trip ticket using the name in the VWP passport
  • Use that passport to fly to the US
  • Use the other passport to fly to Canada because it has the visa, but also show the VWP passport when you check in because you need to have an ID with a matching name.
  • Also show the VWP passport to TSA because they need a matching name.

(If the difference is slight, I would try ignoring the VWP passport altogether on the way back to Canada unless anyone asks about the discrepancy in the name.)

Two thoughts on entry/exit matching, one for each country:

  • Canada won't care much if they fail to match your exit, since they'll have your new entry and anyway you're not overstaying or otherwise changing the terms of your admission by making this trip.
  • The US will probably match your exit on the non-VWP passport to your entry on the VWP passport; they have logic to do this. If they don't, the consequences are minor: you can always prove that you left on time using other evidence. You can also check after you leave by visiting https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov and, if they missed your departure, correct the record right away rather than waiting until your next attempt to enter the US. Information on doing this is available under the question "What can I do if I feel the information regarding my departure from the United States is incorrect?" at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/faq
phoog
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