•Exiting Immigration, if checked - show US Passports. - There is no separate immigration control in the US.

"My wife is US citizen only, can she use the EU line with us?" No she must use the non EU/other line to check Visa etc.

@Karlson I'm not sure whether you can call it "immigration control" or something else, but the last few times I flew from Boston Logan airport to Europe, before going through security, I had to go through some sort of passport control. The agents' uniform looked like that of the border agents at the arrival. As I used my US passport, the agent simply looked at it and let me through. However a couple in front of me had Russian passports - and the agent carefully checked their visas before letting them through.

@AleksG That is not an immigration control. This is TSA just verifying that passport is valid and matches your ticket.

@davidb It would seem like a valuable answer, especially if you can provide some evidence (personal experience, official documents, etc.)

@Karlson: It's possible for CBP to conduct random checks of departing passengers at the gate. But it's extremely rare and I've never encountered it.

@user102008 True. But they are not systematic.

This is a duplicate, but very simply use your USA passports in the situation you describe, as it is easier. Note that expedia has this completely covered (who doesn't have a few passports these days?), they can record all of each family member's passports, and on a booking, you choose Which One to send to the fascist authorities. All criminals use this and choose expedia for this reason!

Note ... "My wife is US citizen only, can she use the EU line with us?" basically YES, it's adhoc but they never mind if you do that!

@davidb Of course, but that's not what the question or my comment were about… See also JoeBlow's remark above.

@Relaxed I was merely answering one of the bullet points in the original question. It all depends on the airport in question. I have seen people being turned away because they have been in the wrong line. Bottom line, in airports, do as you are told. The process is there for a reason.

@davidb But that bullet point is about taking that line with your EU citizen spouse (which also means you will undergo a ‘minimum’ check, article 7 of the Schengen Borders Code). I don't actually know whether that's officially allowed (beyond anecdotal reports) but the mere existence of the line or the fact that people travelling alone are being turned away is not relevant. The question is precisely what the process is, exactly, for EU citizens travelling with their family.

@Relaxed the bullet point implies that you have an EU passport and your spouse has a non EU passport. Can she use the same line as you at immigration? My answer is, only if it specifies both non EU and EU passport holders. If not, which I believe is the case is many EU airports, then your spouse will have to stay in line with other non EU passport holders for proper checks.

@davidb And what makes you think that? If it's only the signs you saw at the airport, it's not a very useful answer…

@Relaxed From personal experience, on many occasions, travelling around the EU I have seen non EU passport holders turned away from the EU passport holder line and told to join the non EU passport holder line. The checks in the non EU passport line will be more strict and thorough than that of the EU passport line. Officers may not have the experience or tools in the EU line to deal with non EU passengers. The EU line is rarely asked questions or even checked as the EU is open bordered, hence two separate lines.

@davidb All that is completely obvious but, again, where those non-EU passport holders travelling with EU citizens family members or not? As alluded to in my earlier comment, in the Schengen area, family members need an entry stamp but are not supposed to go through what the Borders Code calls a “thorough check”. It sounds like you are writing about the general case but completely fail to understand what the question is about (namely the specific case of someone travelling together with their EU-citizen spouse)!

@Relaxed It doesn't matter who you are travelling with. Border officials don't care who is in your party. They treat everyone as individuals when passing through borders. By all means have your non EU spouse stand in the same line as EU passport holders. From experience they will have to join the non EU line.

@davidb Well, it does matter a lot as far as EU law is concerned and border guards do care about it, certainly in the Schengen area. I don't actually know if it also means that third-party family members are entitled to use the “EU citizens” lane, which is why I did not provide an answer on that point and asked if you did actually know it but uninformed speculation based on some unrelated “experience” is not helpful.

@davidb you are obviously not married with an non-EU citizen and never traveled with an non-EU family member (in this specific case with a spouse). If they travel alone they can be asked to switch to the non-EU line, but if they travel together with the UE family member they can't be asked to switch (so for you if a non-EU minor travel with one EU parent the minor needs to switch line by himself?). Borders officials don't treat everyone as individuals, especially when the residence permit is released for family reasons or the visa clearly indicates "joining a UE national family member".

@davidb some european airports don't have separate lines for EU/non EU, especially the small ones, they prefer to handle the non-Schengen arrivals with a separate gate.

@davidb if you think it doesn't matter who you are traveling with, read the Schengen Borders Code and you will see that it does. It explicitly says that persons enjoying the right of free movement should use the EU-only line, and that this category includes non-EU family members who are traveling with or joining the EU family member.

@AleksG to test whether the TSA cares about immigration matters, I recently showed my driver's license instead of a passport at the TSA identity check when I was flying out of the US. The officer seemed very slightly confused, as it was an international terminal and I suppose he didn't see a lot of driver's licenses, but maybe that was all in my head. At any rate, he didn't say anything.