Introduction
Every person who is travelling requires a passport. However, it becomes very challenging when filling out the application forms, especially on the part you have to write the country of issue or the country; therefore, this article aims at shedding light on this matter.
What is the country of issue
The country of issue in most of the immigration boards means the country where you originate from. This means the place you are born or the country of your citizenship. During the application, the country of the issue might miss in the options in the dropdown menu; therefore, you need to select your original country. For example, if you are a United Kingdom citizen located in Hong Kong and you are getting the passport from Hong Kong, then you need to select the U.K. as your country of the issue as you will pick it from the U.K. consul that is located in Hong Kong. This is among the confusion that occurs to the applicants during the registration process.
What to do if you have a Dual Citizenship
Before focusing on Dual citizenship, most of the time, the country of issuance might be missing; therefore, it is not advisable to be applying for the ESTA. ESTA is the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which is an automated system that determines and verifies the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. It means that it applies to citizens from countries who are participants for the Visa Waiver Program; therefore, they get the direct qualification for ESTA.
In the Dual Citizenship, if you are registered with ESTA, you should use the VWP to travel and when onboard. It is vital as it will be checked on your arrival. In the case that in both countries you have their citizenship are eligible for the VWP, then you should select a single country that you will use for the travel to the United States, and that country’s passport can be used each time you travel.
What happens if you have two ESTA Authorizations
If you possess two ESTA authorizations, it is advisable to avoid one as it will delay you during your time of travel. For example, if you are a U.S. citizen, and a member of a VWP country, you should avoid applying for an ESTA. The rationale behind this is, one of the requirements of being a naturalized U.S citizen, is to apply and use the U.S. passport for travel. Several cases have emerged that the citizens with dual citizenship use their country of issue as travelling passports; however, it is advisable to use the U.S. on arrival and departure from the U.s and the foreign country.
When there is a need for an emergency travels, and you are unable to get your U.S. passport, if you have a VWP eligible passport, you will have to apply through ESTA when travelling to the United States. Nonetheless, on arrival, you will have to use the non-resident queue while showing a foreign passport during entry.
Conclusion
Understanding the country of issue is very important in the passport application process. The original homeland of an individual will further assist them in understanding if they are ESTA qualified or if they are members of VWP countries. Comprehending these two factors will ease your travel hassle.