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I will travel with my family, we all have French passports but our 4 months old kid has a US passport and has the same lastname than us. We have his US birth certificate as well.

Will we have any issue at the airport because our son does not have a French passport?

We will travel from Seattle to Frankfurt for 2 weeks.

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  • Our baby was obviously born in the US and in each of our passport our address is in the US as well.
    – JohnJohnGa
    Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 20:55
  • The birth certificate is fine. You can always be diligent and bring graduated photos of the child, but the central issue is nationality.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Oct 17, 2015 at 20:57

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Congratulations, it appears that your child has dual US and French citizenship. This will gain him various advantages later in life, and you will do him a favor by ensuring that he has full access to both countries' protections.

If your schedule permits, you should obtain your child's French passport before you go. If you don't have time, you still should obtain it. This can be done at the French embassy or consulate serving where you live in the US. At any rate you must do this before he turns 18.

Even if you don't have time to get his French passport, your child can still travel on his US passport. As you may know, US citizens can enter the Schengen area visa-free for 90 days out of every 180 day period.

EU citizens visiting other countries in the Schengen area technically have a similar requirement, but EU citizens also have treaty rights which are activated in certain circumstances (e.g. moving for the purposes of work).

Of course you'll likely have the extended questioning for which you plan to bring the birth certificate. This issue goes away if you are able to obtain his French passport before your trip.

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    Let me add, just to be precise: when crossing the border of the USA, your child not only can but must travel on the US passport. The official Dual Nationality page has this: Most U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States.
    – user4188
    Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 2:40
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    +1, and the entire family should use the EU/EEA queue.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 4:09
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    @MichaelHampton it's a family group and the primary is EEA
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 4:38
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    (+1) Yes, they can use the EU/EEA queue because the spouse and minor children of an EU citizen are also “Persons enjoying the Community right of free movement” when they travel together. It also means they aren't subject to all the usual requirements to enter the Schengen area that apply to US citizens (having a valid purpose, sufficient financial means, etc.). Cf. directive 2004/38/EC and in particular article 2 and article 9 of regulation 562/2006 (the Schengen Borders code).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 5:47
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    True, it is a side issue. It's also worth noting that OP could remain in the Schengen area (or in a non-Schengen EU country) with his child for longer than 90 days even if the child travels on a US passport (even if the child did not have EU nationality), because of the right of freedom of movement noted by @Relaxed.
    – phoog
    Commented Oct 22, 2015 at 20:03

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