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I'd like to ask the following question

Obviously, upon travelling, we have to go to the check-in in order to get the boarding card/pass and then we have to clear immigration by going to the entry or exit immigration spots (I'm not considering customs). Do airlines generally share flight data with the immigration or does the latter only check the eligibility of the individual to enter the country, or does it depend on the country?

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    At least in the USA, they are required to (share information).
    – Aganju
    May 28, 2021 at 18:33
  • Not exactly the same question, but I believe that my answer also covers what you are asking here: travel.stackexchange.com/questions/163892/… May 28, 2021 at 18:36
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    @abdul: the answer to your question as asked is "depends on the country: some do and some don't". If you want to know about hiding a second citizenship, you should ask a new question or edit your existing one.
    – Hilmar
    May 28, 2021 at 19:24
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    @abdul The departure country may receive this information (for example, the US and UK don't have exit checks, but rather receive departure information from the airlines electronically). If you have a specific question about trying to travel as a dual citizen while keeping one of your nationalities a secret, it's best to ask that directly, as there are specific strategies people use in that situation depending on the country concerned. May 28, 2021 at 19:25
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    If you are a dual national travelling to/from a country you are a citizen of which does not allow dual citizenship, then it can get very complicated. You may want to refer to travel.stackexchange.com/questions/52100/… which describes what to do in this scenario.
    – jcaron
    May 28, 2021 at 20:37

1 Answer 1

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It depends.

Traditionally, and this is still the case in many countries, no. Airlines used to just check requirements, and they didn’t transmit anything to anyone.

However, over the last couple of decades, this has changed a lot, and many counties require information from airlines either for incoming passengers or exiting passengers, or both.

This takes the form of API (advance passenger information), also known under a variety of different names in different places.

If an airline asks for your passport info before they let you check-in, it’s for the purpose of transferring it to either the destination or origin country.

Most notably:

  • all passengers going to the US (or even flying over the US) will be notified to the US. They will be checked against no-fly lists, and for those going to the US, their eligibility will be checked (valid ESTA or visa...). If you’re not eligible, you won’t be allowed to board.
  • all passengers leaving the US or the UK will be notified to the origin country. Neither has exit immigration checks, so that allows them to update records and notice overstays.

I believe the EU (or is it the Schengen area?) already has a similar system for incoming passengers. Other countries already have or plan to have the same.

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  • You state that many countries do not entertain that, then you state a few lines lower than many countries do that.
    – us er
    Dec 6, 2021 at 6:33
  • @user "Many" is not "Most", so you can have many that do not and many that do. It used to be "Most"/"Few", it's now "Many"/"Many", and it will probably end up in "Few"/"Most".
    – jcaron
    Dec 6, 2021 at 8:58

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