"British" People without British Passports

[Randy Winkman]

Excuse the thread title which might not be quite right but I wanted something that wasnt too long. This link is to the subject in question though I dont for one minute expect any PHers to read it all.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-brie...

The question is to ask if any PHers know about new rules that I understand affect people arriving in the UK that were UK citizens but now only have passports from other countries? My brother has lived elsewhere in the EU for decades and for the last 5 years has only had the passport for that country. It seems that now he might have some extra hassle at UK customs because he doesnt also have a UK passport. Anyone know anything about that? I struggle to see why he should have any more inconvenience than other people coming from other EU countries for a holiday who have never had UK passports.

Cheers.

[captain_cynic]

The trouble will start long before he gets to the border.

Airlines are on the hook if the transport someone without the rights to enter the UK, so they check this when you check in. If he can't prove he's a citizen then they may deny him boarding.

[FredericRobinson]

captain_cynic said:

The trouble will start long before he gets to the border.

Airlines are on the hook if the transport someone without the rights to enter the UK, so they check this when you check in. If he can't prove he's a citizen then they may deny him boarding.

If he’s got an EU country passport he’s got no issue with being allowed into the country has he?

[Exiled Imp]

Introduction of ETA has changed the travel requirements

https://www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship

“Travelling to the UK

As a dual national, you must travel to the UK using either:

- a valid UK passport or Irish passport
- any other valid passport with a certificate of entitlement

You can apply for a passport or certificate of entitlement if you need one. You will not be able to travel without one of these documents.

You cannot get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) if you’re a British or Irish dual citizen.

If you’re travelling before 25 February 2026

If you have a valid passport for a nationality that can get an ETA, you can use it to travel to the UK without an ETA or a certificate of entitlement.“

[Michael_B]

I have a UK passport which will expire in July 2028, which I use when I return to Britain for visits, to avoid having to buy an ETA thing. Otherwise I travel everywhere on my Swiss ID card/passport. I had wondered about the worth of renewing the UK one when it expires, having not lived there since 1999.

According to gov.uk:

"You cannot get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) if you’re a British or Irish dual citizen."

So if I don't renew the UK travel document, will I still be able to travel to the UK without an ETA? How will the airline of my inbound flight know that I am a British citizen if I don't register a valid UK travel document when checking in?

[Inbox]

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

[Another project]

I was born and bred in the UK to Italian parents, I'm eligible for a UK passport but I've had a Italian passport since I was a kid. I tried to get my British passport but they wanted proof That my parents were paying tax in the UK when I was born but HMRC are an absolute cluster fk and didn't send me what I needed

[Michael_B]

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

[borcy]

I think he might have to get a passport. The requirements seem to be higher than EU passport holders because they have a limit of 6 months in the uk whereas uk nationals have the right of abode.

[Randy Winkman]

Michael_B said:

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

Thanks to everyone for the help so far. He has a passport for the EU country he lives in, and in the last few years didn't see the point of the expense and hassle of getting a UK passport. It was way easier and cheaper to get one for his home country. Until now there was no reason to have both.

[captain_cynic]

Randy Winkman said:

Michael_B said:

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

Thanks to everyone for the help so far. He has a passport for the EU country he lives in, and in the last few years didn't see the point of the expense and hassle of getting a UK passport. It was way easier and cheaper to get one for his home country. Until now there was no reason to have both.

Probably the easiest thing to do to save the faff about getting an ETA. Plus it gives you options at other borders.

For a few years I had settled status but had not applied for citizenship. This played havoc trying to check in at more than a few airports for flights bound for the UK, the automated systems would refuse to check me in meaning I had to be done manually (most places let me skip the queue). All they needed to do was sight my BRP (Biometric Residency Permit) which according to the home office is not evidence of my entitlement to live or work in the UK. I don't want to imagine the issues had I not had that though.

UK passports are pretty cheap considering how powerful they are. My Australian passport would cost over £200 if I applied on Oz, over £300 applying overseas, at least it doesn't seem to require a consulate appointment any more.

[Inbox]

Randy Winkman said:

Michael_B said:

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

Thanks to everyone for the help so far. He has a passport for the EU country he lives in, and in the last few years didn't see the point of the expense and hassle of getting a UK passport. It was way easier and cheaper to get one for his home country. Until now there was no reason to have both.

Something doesn't make sense to me, if he is a UK Citizen how has he got an EU Passport? I can only assume he either got it before Brexit or holds dual citizenship?

[Randy Winkman]

Inbox said:

Randy Winkman said:

Michael_B said:

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

Thanks to everyone for the help so far. He has a passport for the EU country he lives in, and in the last few years didn't see the point of the expense and hassle of getting a UK passport. It was way easier and cheaper to get one for his home country. Until now there was no reason to have both.

Something doesn't make sense to me, if he is a UK Citizen how has he got an EU Passport? I can only assume he either got it before Brexit or holds dual citizenship?

Sorry for not simply saying which country he lives in - it's just that I regard that as his business. He has the passport for the country he lives in because he has been there for ages and it was easy - it was the default option really. He could have got a UK one too but at that time it was a load of hassle and he just didnt see the point.

I guess the issue I'm really trying to find out is when he gets to passport control when he arrives in the UK, will he have hassle that his partner or someone from Spain, Germany, Sweden etc wont have?

Cheers again everyone.

[borcy]

I'm getting the impression, perhaps wrongly, that he doesn't want to apply for a British passport?

[Michael_B]

Mrs B was chastised by the Swiss border police chap for returning here from London using her British passport; she had taken the UK document and accidentally left her Swiss ID/passport at home. The chap was not aggressive, but quite firmly said that as a Swiss citizen and resident, she should use that ID to enter the country, regardless of any dual nationality.

Some years ago we drove to London for Christmas, and used our Swiss passports (whilst driving a Swiss registered car) at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais. The French border chap then asked us if we had any other nationality, to which we replied yes, and he asked to see our UK passports. I asked him how he knew, and he smiled in a kind of "I could tell you but I'd have to kill you" sort of way.

I also have a Swiss friend who works at the airport as a 'garde frontière' and he did tell me that when they insert a passport in the machine, they get to see a whole smorgasbord of info and photos during the 10-15 seconds it's in there, basically your life story in a blink of an eye

[Hill92]

Randy Winkman said:

Sorry for not simply saying which country he lives in - it's just that I regard that as his business. He has the passport for the country he lives in because he has been there for ages and it was easy - it was the default option really. He could have got a UK one too but at that time it was a load of hassle and he just didnt see the point.

I guess the issue I'm really trying to find out is when he gets to passport control when he arrives in the UK, will he have hassle that his partner or someone from Spain, Germany, Sweden etc wont have?

Cheers again everyone.

As others mentioned, the issue won't be passport control in the UK, it'll be the airline letting him on the flight to the UK without a British passport or ETA.

He could try applying for an ETA with his EU passport anyway. Some dual citizens report managing to obtaine one but others say there were rejected (as British/Irish citizens are not subject to UK immigration control). But even if he manages to get one now, there's no guarantee, it'll work next time. The ETA system (and particularly the airline's enforcement of it) is very much set up with the expectation that British (and Irish) citizens will their British/Irish passports to enter the UK.

[Inbox]

Randy Winkman said:

Inbox said:

Randy Winkman said:

Michael_B said:

Inbox said:

Isn't the obvious question, why do they no longer have a British passport?

If they haven't taken citizenship in the country they were staying in, not sure why they would have a 'local' passport. They can still renew a UK passport.

It costs about £145 to renew a UK passport from overseas, I've done it twice since 1999. It might be cheaper for me just to pay the £16 ETA fee every two years (£80) for travel to the UK than to renew the UK passport for another 10 years. All other international travel I do with my Swiss passport (or within Schengen, ID card). Although the government website states that I cannot get an ETA if I am a British citizen. Hence the confusion... and hence one of the reasons I left

Thanks to everyone for the help so far. He has a passport for the EU country he lives in, and in the last few years didn't see the point of the expense and hassle of getting a UK passport. It was way easier and cheaper to get one for his home country. Until now there was no reason to have both.

Something doesn't make sense to me, if he is a UK Citizen how has he got an EU Passport? I can only assume he either got it before Brexit or holds dual citizenship?

Sorry for not simply saying which country he lives in - it's just that I regard that as his business. He has the passport for the country he lives in because he has been there for ages and it was easy - it was the default option really. He could have got a UK one too but at that time it was a load of hassle and he just didnt see the point.

I guess the issue I'm really trying to find out is when he gets to passport control when he arrives in the UK, will he have hassle that his partner or someone from Spain, Germany, Sweden etc wont have?

Cheers again everyone.

I wasn't asking specifics but I guess they have dual nationality. Worst-case they might need a tourist visa or catch a boat from Calais

[Randy Winkman]

borcy said:

I'm getting the impression, perhaps wrongly, that he doesn't want to apply for a British passport?

To be fair - I think that's right. I think he gets wound up by other "British" people in his country that make a big deal of being "British" even though they have chosen to live in another country for decades.

I have just seen this on line which suggests to me that the point about him now being "encouraged" the get a UK passport is to avoid a process that will also apply to other people coming to the UK. So it isnt a penalty aimed specifically at people that could have a UK passport but chose not to.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/no-permission-n...

Thanks again to everyone. I think I've wasted enough of your time but once again it proves to me that PH is best for practical issues and I should spend less time arguing about politics and whether it's OK to call a woman a "fireman".

[croyde]

Jeezuz!

Reading all this is like seeing what it was like to travel after the war.

We really have come on in leaps and bounds haven't we

When I was a kid I used to get sent to Holland to stay with my Dutch grandparents. They would have to take me to the police station to have paperwork signed every week as I only had a Brit passport.

I now have a Brit and Irish passport, thanks to my grandfather from Cork.

So if I were to move to an EU country to live and didn't renew my Brit passport, do I have to then jump through hoops if I want to return to the country of my birth, who have taken tax off me for 5 decades etc, even just for a short visit.

[the-norseman]

I've seen a few people above say why would somebody not have a British passport?

My Australian cousin is a good example, born in Australia, her dad, uncle and grandparents were all british. She automatically gained British citizenship because of this, she didn't know this of course.

She has come to the UK several times as an Australian citizen, she then asked me to look into if she was eligible so we applied for her citizenship and got a polite reply basically saying you already are, just apply for a passport, she now olds OZ and British passports.

So technically she could of come to the UK on her Oz passport a few years ago and then stayed.