Australian Dual Citizens Entering UK after February

[MEL_Traveller]

At least the UK passport is considerably cheaper. Also allows visa free entry to some countries that the Aussie one doesn't, like Turkey for example.

For those living in AU, Vietnam perhaps is the biggest benefit for visa free.

 

[lovestotravel]

I'm half way through waiting for 2 passports for the kids.

Sent everything

Got an email this morning asking for documents I'd already sent and claiming one of my kids was adopted (so then lots more paperwork)

Fun times

We leave in 4 weeks........

 

[LondonAussie]

Finally making news in the UK, but news here is focusing on British people living in the EU, for whom it should at least be a bit easier to obtain passports if needed.

Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport

New border controls require ‘certificate of entitlement’ to attach to second nationality passport that costs £589

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pushka]

Finally making news in the UK, but news here is focusing on British people living in the EU, for whom it should at least be a bit easier to obtain passports if needed.

Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport

New border controls require ‘certificate of entitlement’ to attach to second nationality passport that costs £589

www.theguardian.com

I think the issue will be for the children of British dual citizens who have never bothered with it or maybe even knew about their potential issue.

It's going to be a bit of a stretch though for immigration in UK to assess a girl born into an Aussie family where the mother is British dual, daughters birth name is in the 'Aussie - Fathers name' and who then gets married and changes her name - so two steps from Brit mums name.

 

[lovestotravel]

I think the issue will be for the children of British dual citizens who have never bothered with it or maybe even knew about their potential issue.

It's going to be a bit of a stretch though for immigration in UK to assess a girl born into an Aussie family where the mother is British dual, daughters birth name is in the 'Aussie - Fathers name'

This is where I'm at, at the moment..

3rd request for more paperwork and requesting a hand signed document to confirm Grandparents details on Mum's side.

It's pathetic

 

[Pushka]

This is where I'm at, at the moment..

3rd request for more paperwork and requesting a hand signed document to confirm Grandparents details on Mum's side.

It's pathetic

My exDIL is proudly British but also took out Aussie citizenship. Grandkids got their British passport before they were 6 months old. But get this, the UK passport control wanted our full birth certificates and our wedding certificate - notarised - but we had absolutely nothing to do with the kids British ancestry. Well, in this regime my Dad would have been a British citizen but he'd died by then so they just wouldn't know about it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Finally making news in the UK, but news here is focusing on British people living in the EU, for whom it should at least be a bit easier to obtain passports if needed.

Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport

New border controls require ‘certificate of entitlement’ to attach to second nationality passport that costs £589

www.theguardian.com

Heavens!

Two major inaccuracies in that article.

The first is the title… British citizens cannot be denied entry to the UK. They could be denied boarding or passage to the UK, but they cannot be refused entry.

The second is the example of the Spanish citizen. She was required, in order to obtain Spanish citizenship, to renounce her British allegiance. That is completely unrelated to the current issue of the change in travel requirements.

She is no supposed to be British anymore, so no reason for her to have a UK passport, or acquire one to travel.

 

[Bugs]

I went through some of the way to apply for Uk pp yesterday. It stated I need to do new pp application due to expiry.
Upon reading the associated info and tables explaining the documents required to support application I saw the my mum and dad’s wedding certificate is required .
It is a merry go round without the merry

 

[Pushka]

Heavens!

Two major inaccuracies in that article.

The first is the title… British citizens cannot be denied entry to the UK. They could be denied boarding or passage to the UK, but they cannot be refused entry.

The second is the example of the Spanish citizen. She was required, in order to obtain Spanish citizenship, to renounce her British allegiance. That is completely unrelated to the current issue of the change in travel requirements.

She is no supposed to be British anymore, so no reason for her to have a UK passport, or acquire one to travel.

It's kind of moot if no one will transport them though.

 

[Bugs]

Yep that’s the scary part. I’m travelling Monday evening. Most anxious part is check in at airport PER

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's kind of moot if no one will transport them though.

Sort of?

If a dual citizen showed up at check-in with their Aussie passport with an ETA, they could still be transported to the UK.

If, somehow… the UK border determined they were in fact British. They could not then be denied entry.

So the ban is only on transport, not entry to the UK.

 

[Zero]

Finally making news in the UK, but news here is focusing on British people living in the EU, for whom it should at least be a bit easier to obtain passports if needed.

Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport

New border controls require ‘certificate of entitlement’ to attach to second nationality passport that costs £589

www.theguardian.com

Heavens!

Two major inaccuracies in that article.

The first is the title… British citizens cannot be denied entry to the UK. They could be denied boarding or passage to the UK, but they cannot be refused entry.

The second is the example of the Spanish citizen. She was required, in order to obtain Spanish citizenship, to renounce her British allegiance. That is completely unrelated to the current issue of the change in travel requirements.

She is no supposed to be British anymore, so no reason for her to have a UK passport, or acquire one to travel.

The Guardian doesn't do well when it comes to reporting about UK immigration. Most of their articles about the Windrush scandal and post-Brexit problems faced by EU citizens in the UK contained major errors about immigration rules.

 

[transpactraveller]

If a dual citizen showed up at check-in with their Aussie passport with an ETA, they could still be transported to the UK.

If, somehow… the UK border determined they were in fact British. They could not then be denied entry.

So the ban is only on transport, not entry to the UK.

The UK Parliament's official answer is:

"There isn’t a specific legal requirement for British citizens to travel on a British passport but in practice pre-departure checks for UK-bound travellers make it difficult to travel to the UK without one." - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10344/

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The UK Parliament's official answer is:

"There isn’t a specific legal requirement for British citizens to travel on a British passport but in practice pre-departure checks for UK-bound travellers make it difficult to travel to the UK without one." - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10344/

Yeah, which I think confirms much of the discussion on this thread.

What has been poor is the communication from the UK government.

I suspect they are bound by the legislation which determines when someone is British (automatically) and the can’t legally issue any advice which is contrary to that.

Otherwise they could have just said, ‘anyone who has claimed British citizenship must enter on their British passport’.

 

[New to this]

It’s going to be a wild ride. Technically, if you have an expired British passport, you can’t actually go to the UK anymore.
As others have said, the airline won’t let you board.
You’d have to try and get to the border another way. Perhaps up to Calais and cross the channel in a small boat?
I hear that’s quite popular these days.

 

[Bugs]

Quick reminder UK Border are apparently ‘strictly enforcing’ the rules from 25th Feb 2026.
Anyone in transit for example QF9 PER-LHR departs 19.15 and arrives next day at 05.05.
Allowed to board plane on 24th but denied entry 25th?

 

[AuSammy]

Quick reminder UK Border are apparently ‘strictly enforcing’ the rules from 25th Feb 2026.
Anyone in transit for example QF9 PER-LHR departs 19.15 and arrives next day at 05.05.
Allowed to board plane on 24th but denied entry 25th?

As pointed out above, if you make it there and they decide you are a UK citizen they can’t deny entry to a UK citizen.

 

[kelvedon]

A disappointing tabloidesque headline for The Guardian. It’s not true that the UK will “deny entry to the UK”, it’s the Airlines who may refuse to board you.
The UK cannot refuse a UK citizen entry at the border, though they may take some time to investigate the right to enter.
I wonder what will happen at Gare du Nord where the Eurostar UK immigration border checks are held before boarding?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A disappointing tabloidesque headline for The Guardian. It’s not true that the UK will “deny entry to the UK”, it’s the Airlines who may refuse to board you.
The UK cannot refuse a UK citizen entry at the border, though they may take some time to investigate the right to enter.
I wonder what will happen at Gare du Nord where the Eurostar UK immigration border checks are held before boarding?

I wondered that too. And apparently there’s two obstacles there… one is that eurostar says they require a document check for travel to the UK, and two, apparently you have to exit through French border first before you get to the UK border… so the French may stop you (or more likely, not care and let the British deal with their own mess )

 

[Zero]

I wondered that too. And apparently there’s two obstacles there… one is that eurostar says they require a document check for travel to the UK, and two, apparently you have to exit through French border first before you get to the UK border… so the French may stop you (or more likely, not care and let the British deal with their own mess )

Eurostar will check ETAs electronically before they let you into the secure area.

If you manage to have a valid ETA in a foreign passport despite being a British citizen, nothing will be different.

France does not care about the UK's rules. In fact, having Eurostar enforce the ETA helps France.

Previously, France would not know who might be refused entry to the UK. Now, the majority of people who would have been denied entry to the UK, will be filtered out by Eurostar's ETA checks, so they won't even get to the exit controls of France.