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I have Brazilian and Italian citizenship and passports. Renewing the Brazilian passport I plan to apply for a USA visa on it.

Is it true that from that moment on I MUST enter the USA using exclusively the Brazilian passport? I mean: no longer benefiting from the visa waiver program (VWP) until the visa is expired?

The reason for my question is quite simple: While I don't need to use the VWP, if I have a valid visa I would like to keep using the automated passport machines available in the airport I normally use when go to the States. Those machines are for US citizens/residents and ESTA (VWP) users.

The question may sound odd, but I was told that IF you have a valid visa you SHOULD use that passport to enter the US. (therefore entering the regular immigration line). Of course when I travel I have both passports with me.

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    Why would you apply for a visa if you're VWP-eligible? And why not apply for one for your Italian passport then?
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Sep 10, 2016 at 15:26
  • VWP is less flexible than a regular VISA. For instance, the maximum stay is limited to 90 days. There are other limitations.
    – user51044
    Sep 10, 2016 at 16:06
  • Friends told me that. In fact that was BEFORE the machines were installed. May be the current practice is different.
    – user51044
    Sep 10, 2016 at 16:11
  • Note that just about any recent press on APC machines now includes the fact that B1/B2 visa holders can use the machines. E.g. see this, from the Bahamas, or this, from Hawaii.
    – user38879
    Sep 10, 2016 at 18:19
  • The CBP site and many airport's signs don't say this yet but there's a good chance you can, or will soon be able to, use the passport with the visa at APC machines.
    – user38879
    Sep 10, 2016 at 18:22

2 Answers 2

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From personal experience (although not with the US), I had a current Schengen visa in one of my passports when I got my US citizenship. On my next trip to Europe I used my US passport, despite having another passport with a still valid visa which was valid for the purpose of the visit. Nobody asked any questions.

Now regarding the USA, I have found no specific information about it in FAMs or on DoS website about that. Thus my answer would be more of a speculation conclusion, and it would be "no, you would not be required to use a specific passport to enter the USA" simply because you have a visa in that passport. Consider the typical case where the passport with the visa is no longer in your possession because it has been replaced/lost/damaged.

Interestingly enough, the US visa application form doesn't even ask about all your nationalities.

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If you have two nationalities, you may enter the US using either one you wish.

If you enter using a VWP-eligible nationality, you must have an ESTA, and if you enter using a nationality that requires a visa, you must have a visa.

I have dual citizenship from both a VWP country and a non-VWP country?

If you are flying under the terms of the VWP, with your VWP passport, you must apply for ESTA. If you are using your non-VWP country's passport, you will require a visa and therefore ESTA does not apply to you.

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  • Small nitpick: if you enter with a VWP eligible passport, you can still choose to get a B visa in that passport and not use the VWP, thereforenot requiringESTA . But if the B visa is in another passport, as it is in this case, the traveler would have to use the VWP.
    – phoog
    Sep 10, 2016 at 21:09

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