Help (US mother/UK kids passport confusion)

[desertlily]

Hi everyone! We have relocated to the UK from American with my British husband. I have kept my US Passport and our little ones only have British passports (long story, dad does not want them to have US passports). I would like to take them home for a visit as I have family members in ailing health but my husband does not wish to come along meaning it will be me alone on my US passport and the children on their British passports. Does anyone know how this will work in the US with port of entry arrivals? I know US passport holders and International passport holders are seperated into different lines. Does anyone know if I can take them with me first and then go with them through the other line (or vice versa)? Thanks!

Ask before landing - they'll keep you together but you may have to go in the slow Aliens line with them.

If they travel to USA without using US passports they may be denied US citizenship should they wish to claim it later. You might be arrested there and then. There used to be strict rules about this, probably still are, & I would not flout them.

I had a US-national-only friend who took her dual-nationality (but only had Brit passport) child thru US immigration 4 yrs ago. The immigration guy dropped heavy hints to her that child should have a USA passport (which she didn't even understand) but they decided to be human beings & let them enter anyway rather than apply the letter of the law there and then.

Read more here; why the heck won't your husband let them get USA passports?

From US embassy in London:

I am an American citizen, but also have a foreign passport. Can I use my foreign passport to travel to the United States?

No. Under U.S. law, U.S. citizens must be in possession of a valid U.S. passport to enter or leave the United States. This is true even if you hold a passport from another country. If your U.S. passport has been lost or stolen, or if it has expired, you must apply to replace it before traveling to the United States.

yeah, our lawyer made it very very clear that DSs MUST have a US passport for entry into the US.

Not all Children of US citizens will be eligible to be US citizens. The US parent must have lived in the US long enough and so many of those years (3 I think) have to be after the age of 15. They also make you have a lot of proof of all this time living in the US.
My boys will be eligible to pass on their US citizenship to their kids no matter where they may be born, but Dd will not. We are moving back to UK and she is 7, no plans to move back to US so no living here after age 15 her kids won't be USC unless she moves back to US and delivers.
All that waffle being said, the US immigration has no idea on entry if you kids are even eligible to hold USC so using British passports shouldn't get frowned on. I'd walk them through the citizens line with me and see what they say. If anyone said anything I'd say they aren't eligible. My Dh used to enter with a British passport along with his USC mother and didn't get his US citizenship till he was older and had lived in US long enough himself.

I agree with Californialeaving. I always went through the USC line with DH and DD who both hold US passports. DD did enter US on UK passport for first few months as getting the US passport took a while longer. She does have both now though.

Are they born in US or UK? If thier place of birth is USA it is possible there may be a problem, if not them you will likely be fine.

One of my son's was not eligible to get U.S. citizenship through me because I had not lived here long enough at the time of his birth, however, once he had a green card he was and needed a U.S. passport the next time he travelled.