ESTA: Previous Citizenship/Passport? (for both Stateless and Soviet Union ex. nationals)
We're travelling as a group, currently we are all EU citizens with no other nationality/passports issued by other countries.
Though there's a bit of confusion relating to questions asking about the past:
- Have you ever been issued a passport or national identity card for travel by any other country?
- Have you ever been a citizen or national of any other country?
So far, for our group of travellers, for the above two questions all of the below apply:
- Prev. Citizenship: Stateless
- Prev. Passport: Alien
- Prev. "national identity card": Residence permit card (for Stateless national, valid for travel within Schengen Area)
- Prev. Citizenship: Soviet Union
- Prev. "national identity card": Soviet Union (internal passport - valid for travel only within the union)
- Prev. Passport: Soviet Union (ordinary/foreign passport - valid for travel to other countries outside the union)
- Prev. Passport: Soviet Union (civil service passport - valid for travel to other countries outside the union)
But I'm confused as to these are not exactly being present in the dropdown options that the ESTA application provides. And for the passport question, not sure if we're expected to insert a new "row" for each passport that we had issued by the other country? In the above case with the Soviet Union, you could in theory insert at least 3 "rows" for each type of passport and are we expected to add the renewed ones as well? Too confused with this. :(
Best Answer
Prev. Citizenship: Stateless
Stateless is not a citizenship. It is a lack of citizenship.
Prev. Passport: Alien
An alien's passport is probably not a passport within the meaning of this question, but you can certainly list it if you want, provided that it is possible to list it without implying that you were a national of the issuing country.
Prev. "national identity card": Residence permit card (for Stateless national, valid for travel within Schengen Area)
A residence permit is not a national identity card. A national identity card is a card issued to a country's own nationals, while a residence permit is issued to foreigners.
Prev. Citizenship: Soviet Union
Prev. "national identity card": Soviet Union (internal passport - valid for travel only within the union)
Prev. Passport: Soviet Union (ordinary/foreign passport - valid for travel to other countries outside the union)
Prev. Passport: Soviet Union (civil service passport - valid for travel to other countries outside the union)
There should be no problem with these unless it isn't possible to list Soviet Union. If that is the case, you should ask the helpdesk how to respond to the question.
And for the passport question, not sure if we're expected to insert a new "row" for each passport that we had issued by the other country?
In general, it's better to err on the side of offering too much information rather than too little. I would be inclined to add a row for the most recent of each class of document. I would not add a separate row for each renewal.
Pictures about "ESTA: Previous Citizenship/Passport? (for both Stateless and Soviet Union ex. nationals)"
Can dual nationals get ESTA?
If you have dual citizenship and have registered with ESTA, you should use your VWP-eligible passport to board the plane when you leave your country of departure and when you arrive in the U.S. If both your countries of citizenship are VWP-eligible, then we strongly recommend you choose which one you want to claim for ...Can you have an ESTA on two passports?
You can use the passport of your choice for the ESTA application. You should continue to use the passport of this country for any future ESTA or visa applications and your U.S. travels, as it will reduce the likelihood of any processing delays or issues that may arise if you alternate among different passports.What information do I need to complete an ESTA?
Guide for filling out the ESTA application formWhat questions are asked on ESTA?
What questions are asked on the ESTA Application?- First name and family name (plus any alias names)
- Gender.
- Date of Birth.
- City of Birth.
- Passport Number.
- Country of Citizenship.
- National Identification Number (if applicable in your country)
- Passport issuance date, expiry date, and issuing country.
Prof. Eric Lohr: Russian Citizenship — From Empire to Soviet Union
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: vectors icon, Karolina Grabowska, Ketut Subiyanto, vectors icon