How I Decide Which Passport To Use as a Dual Citizen

I have dual citizenship, which means I have passports from 2 countries. That means I get to choose which passport to travel with depending on where I’m going.

There are 5 factors I consider before deciding which passport I use for any given trip, evaluating things like safety, visas, and even just avoiding unnecessary effort.

What Is Dual Citizenship?

I have citizenship in both the U.S. and Brazil, but it’s also possible to have dual citizenship with many other countries as well. You could have dual citizenship in Canada and Australia, for example, or South Africa and Spain. (This isn’t to be confused with holding 2 passports from the same country, which can also be helpful in certain situations.)

That said, some countries don’t recognize dual citizenship. For example, if you have citizenship in Singapore or Japan and gain citizenship in another country, you might automatically lose citizenship in the first country. Moreover, Andorra, China, and Oman, among others, don’t recognize dual citizenship for their citizens.

Additionally, most countries require their citizens to enter and exit using that country’s passport, regardless of any other citizenship they hold. For instance, I must use my U.S. passport to enter and leave the U.S., not my Brazilian one. This may mean traveling with both passports — using one to enter a foreign country and the other to return to your home country.

It’s also worth pointing out that U.S. citizens could lose their citizenship if they serve in the government or military of another country, though this isn’t guaranteed and is typically reserved for countries that are hostile to the U.S. Merely acquiring citizenship from another country usually isn’t a problem for U.S. citizens.

Benefits of Dual Citizenship

Before highlighting the factors I consider before pulling out my U.S. or Brazilian passport, it’s worth highlighting some of the benefits of dual citizenship. Depending on the countries where you hold citizenship, perks can include:

• The ability to vote in elections
• Tax advantages
• Discounted or complimentary healthcare
• Free or discounted admission to national monuments
• Ability to purchase property in locations where foreigners can’t buy
• Travel perks like visa waivers in countries that require a visa for your other passport

Since we’re talking about travel here, I’ll focus on the last aspect: how traveling on passport A might be better than traveling on passport B.

5 Things I’ll Consider Before Deciding Which Passport To Use

1. Visa Requirements

The first thing I consider is whether I need a visa on 1 passport but not the other.

Each country establishes bilateral relations with other countries to decide what visa requirements will be. Often, countries use a process called reciprocity, in which a country looks at the visa requirements of its citizens going to country X and use those same requirements in return. For example, Brazil is once again requiring visas for U.S. citizens since the U.S. requires visas for Brazilian tourists. Thus, Brazil is using reciprocity to require visas for visitors from a country that requires visas of its citizens when traveling in the opposite direction.

Every country provides an official source to let you know what visa requirements are when traveling abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Relations provides this for Brazilians, while the U.S. State Department has a search tool that can tell you both visa requirements and safety information for a foreign country you want to visit. You may see requirements like the following:

• No visa required for tourist visits up to X number of days
• Must obtain a pretravel authorization online
• Must obtain an online visa, which typically has a cost
• Visas required, which may require visiting an embassy, though applying by mail also might be possible

For example, Bolivia doesn’t require a visa for Brazilian tourists, but I would need a visa (that costs $160) using a U.S. passport to travel to Bolivia. Heading to Canada, though, doesn’t require a visa with a U.S. passport. Canada requires a visa for Brazilians, though.

If I need a visa with one passport but not the other, the decision is made. Additionally, if one passport offers a visa on arrival, while the other requires visiting or mailing my passport to an embassy, I’ll use the passport offering a visa on arrival.

2. Visa Costs

Assuming I need a visa with both my U.S. and Brazilian passports, my next consideration is the cost. When I visited Madagascar in 2023, I was eligible for a visa on arrival with both passports. Waiting in line at the airport, I saw a price list clearly posted on the wall. The cost of the visa for Brazilians was significantly cheaper than for U.S. citizens, so I made my decision based on that.

3. Difficulty of the Visa Application Process

Sometimes, the list of paperwork required for a visa application is much longer for one of my passports than the other. If I need a bunch of extra paperwork with one passport, I’ll use the other.

That was the case when I visited Iraq. Using my U.S. passport, I just needed to pay a fee and fill out a form. If I had visited with my Brazilian passport, I would’ve needed bank statements, an invitation letter, and other extras — creating more work. I went for the easy option.

4. Relationship Between Countries

If the visa requirements and costs are the same, my next factor to consider is the relationship — the relationship of the country I want to visit with both Brazil and the U.S. Is one of those better than the other, likely to make the process simpler at passport control?

For example, Brazil has a place in the hearts of many Haitians due to the assistance Brazil’s government provided after Haiti’s recent earthquakes. Thus, I visited on my Brazilian passport. The same reasons led me to use my U.S. passport when visiting South Korea, due to the deep affinity for the U.S. professed by many people there.

5. Emergency Considerations

Along the way to visiting every country in the world, I ran into some … let’s call them “sketchy” situations in which I had to call the embassy for emergency assistance. This happened 3 times. The first and second time, I was traveling on my U.S. passport, and the U.S. embassy representatives essentially shrugged their shoulders. I didn’t feel heard or supported at all. Conversely, the 1 time I contacted a Brazilian embassy, I was surprised by how much concern the employees showed for my safety. I felt protected — the thing you want from your government during overseas emergencies.

If I find myself visiting a potentially dangerous place in the future, I will use my Brazilian passport. I have better faith in Brazil’s emergency response system for its citizens.

What if Everything Is Equal?

Let’s assume the visa process is the same, the cost is the same, and there’s no known differentiator in the relationship. Which passport will I travel with then?

If everything about the visa process is equal, I travel on my Brazilian passport. Why? Because much of the world perceives the U.S. as a rich country and Brazil as a poor country. Rightly or wrongly, I feel safer being seen as a tourist from a poorer country, potentially reducing the chance someone might mug me or kidnap me.

Additionally, many people I encounter during my travels don’t know anything about Brazil’s politics. They make a reference to the national team — or ask me if I know Neymar — and that’s it. Encounters don’t come with preconceived notions and don’t detour into political questions from a taxi driver, which can feel very uncomfortable in a new country, because Brazil’s government likely isn’t discussed on their evening news.

Final Thoughts

Having dual citizenship definitely has advantages, like choosing which passport I use while traveling. However, the factors I consider before deciding which passport to pull out include visa requirements, visa costs, bilateral relations, and the list of paperwork required for visiting on one passport instead of the other.