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I'm a resident of this country. During residence renewal or naturalization process, would they learn that I have two active passports* from another country?

I only presented one passport to this country. So they shouldn't know I have two passports, unless countries exchange such information.

Both countries are part of OECD.

*They different passport numbers

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    As with your other 'two passports' question, which countries? There are different options depending on which two countries and possibly even on which parts/departements within the countries.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 11:26
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    And as with your other question, what exactly is your concern here? It is not illegal to have multiple passports from the same country.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 11:30
  • @Willeke Spain and Korea
    – kamksmdkasdm
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 11:57
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    Looking at your previous questions, it's pretty obvious that the reason you are asking this is because you want to use a second passport to hide exit stamps from the EU that you don't want your country of residence to know about. Regardless of ethics/legality, this whole plan is ill-conceived because you are fixating on the idea that physical stamps in a physical passport are the only likely means through which your breach of rules might be discovered and if you can cook up a clever ruse involving two passports, then you'll be in the clear. This is simply false. We don't live in 1960 anymore.
    – Pilcrow
    Commented Oct 10, 2023 at 12:44
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    Look, if you need to ask strangers on Travel.SE at length for assistance with your ruse to bamboozle the immigration authorities of an EU country, then (again regardless of ethics/legality) you almost certainly are not a person who should be trying to implement said ruse because it's pretty likely to blow up in your face. People who successfully do these kinds of things are people who actually have a reasonable idea of how things work and what they can get away with, not people who need to ask Travel.SE for help.
    – Pilcrow
    Commented Oct 10, 2023 at 12:53

2 Answers 2

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There are a number of avenues that countries may use to find out if you have other citizenships/passports. A non-exhaustive list:

  • they may simply ask on their forms and impose penalties for lying, possibly criminal
  • consulates may require you to show a visa/permit when you need services such as renewing a passport — if you are a citizen of the country of residence, usually it's not possible to acquire or keep one
  • they may pay attention to documentation you need to volunteer to them at some point in your life — for example, you have a child abroad and you need to register them in the consulate, you will need to show a birth certificate from that country, and that certificate may reveal that you have a different citizenship
  • border control may do entry and exit checks in airports, and check if you have the required stamps/visa/permits from your origin and/or destination — if you don't, this may trigger a search for alternate travel documents in your possession
  • the country may require advance passenger information from the airlines for all incoming and outgoing flights, so if you ever check in with a different passport on your way there or out of there then they will become aware
  • countries may share this information among themselves

Most of the above won't happen with countries that allow multiple citizenship, or have strong passports and you are not expected to have permits/visas.

But when applying for residence permits and naturalizing, it is very likely that you will need to fill a form which will explicitly ask about all other citizenships that you have. Lying on such a form is risky: it may result in your permit or naturalization revoked on the grounds of being deceitful, if they ever find out.

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    "it is very likely that you will need to fill a form which will explicitly ask about all other citizenships that you have" You did not read the question or did not understand it. I have 1 citizenship, 2 passports.
    – kamksmdkasdm
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 14:52
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    I indeed didn't notice that you mentioned two passports for the same country.
    – Leonardo
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 15:33
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    2. is not always right... eg. Italy does issue Schengen visa to Italians who are nationals of a non-allowing country (ex. Saudi Arabia) for the single purpose of hiding their nationality
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 15:44
  • @NicolasFormichella: good point, I changed the wording slightly. I would still argue that is not the common case, though. My experience is that most countries will never share your citizenship with other states, but on the other hand will not help you actively conceal your citizenship either. Interesting that Italy does that.
    – Leonardo
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 15:50
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Unless there is data sharing among countries, or if you volunteer that information deliberately or accidentally (for example, by checking in for a flight with the other passport and that data ends up in the advanced passenger information sent to your country of residence), they are unlikely to ever know.

Countries usually care about identity/citizenship — particular instances of travel documents are not that important, as long as they're genuine, because they're only used to confirm your identity and citizenship. Anything written/stamped on a particular travel document can always "disappear" by "losing" that travel document and getting another one, so anything deemed important is also stored in a database which outlives the document.

In the unlikely event that they do care about multiple valid passports, then they will simply ask you explicitly in some form that you have to fill. If they do ask, then you should disclose it because lying in such forms is risky business — if it's a naturalization form, you risk having your citizenship revoked later.

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  • "Unless there is data sharing among countries" That IS my question. Is there data sharing?
    – kamksmdkasdm
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 16:26
  • @kamksmdkasdm, that depends on which two OECD states, and it also matters if there is an active investigation or just routine data gathering. Many countries may legally issue multiple passports (for instance in Germany, if there are travel plans which make this necessary) and other countries are aware of this practice.
    – o.m.
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 18:08

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