‘Post-Brexit money-spinner:’ Readers slam new UK passport rules for dual citizens

Iindependent Readers are questioning new rules requiring dual British nationals to enter the country using a British passport or warrant from February 25.

So far many people have been able to cross the UK border without any problems using foreign passports, including EU passports.

The changes are part of the Home Office’s new ETA plan; The plan will soon require visitors from countries that do not require a visa to travel to the UK to obtain an ETA before their arrival.

Readers emphasized that the changes were sudden and costly. Many dual nationals have allowed their UK passports to expire, thinking they no longer need them, and will now face additional costs: a passport can cost more than £100, while a warrant costs £589.

Some questioned how the rules would be enforced. Dual nationals often travel on foreign passports that already allow entry, and the border system may not reliably flag UK citizenship.

A reader described point 22: Airlines may refuse boarding to those who cannot obtain an ETA because they are British, but passengers without the correct passport may also be denied entry at the border.

Some readers noted that dual citizenship is often acquired automatically and that renouncing it is legally complex and expensive. While a few reforms have been proposed, such as choosing nationality at age 18, many feel that this change creates unnecessary difficulties.

Here’s what you need to say:

money spinner

This looks like a money-spinning game. After Brexit, hundreds of thousands of people with an EU parent or parents (including me) applied for an EU passport. Many of these will have felt that they no longer needed a UK passport. Let’s say there are 100,000 such individuals. £100 per British passport, that’s £10 million.

If I had not come across this article, I would have no idea about the change that is happening at an astonishing pace. A lot of people will be very unhappy with this and it won’t win votes. I don’t believe most countries have such a policy. It will be exploited by the right and distort it into “they let people in without passports, but you who are born here must have a passport.”

Musil

Panic in Australia

This is causing panic in Australia, where there are many dual British nationals who have allowed their passports to expire and are traveling with Australian passports only. They also have Australian-born children who are automatically British citizens by descent but only have an Australian passport. People now ask whether their children need to get a British passport to enter the UK. The Australian passport is currently the most expensive passport in the world; An adult passport costs around £200.

There is also the option of giving up British citizenship, but this is an expensive option and in these unstable times it is probably unwise to do so.

Attaché321

How will they know?

I don’t understand you. If they are traveling with a passport other than the British one that allows them to enter the country, how can they be stopped? Also, is the computer system advanced enough to recognize that a person has dual citizenship when he/she enters with a foreign passport?

Michael

Login denial

Let me clarify: Will British nationals who travel to the UK on a foreign passport (presumably because they have not renewed their UK passport) and hold valid certificates or visa waivers appropriate to the passport they are traveling in, be refused entry to the UK border because they are not entering with a UK passport?

Wow, there is complete fascism here. What has this country become? Makes me want to come back and visit less…

P.J.Hathersage

Proof of dual citizenship

If you don’t tell Border Force about your dual citizenship, how will they know? Will they require secondary citizenship from all foreign passport holders?

GrymSdijk

freedom of movement

Purpose of dual citizenship: One purpose is to preserve the freedom of movement we have lost after Brexit. When the UK decided to leave the EU, hundreds of thousands of Britons (perhaps a million no one knew about) were residing in EU countries.

As a result, we lost the benefits of EU membership, including the right to reside in EU host countries. Everyone had to find a solution, and for many the easiest was to apply for naturalization in the host country. That’s what I did and now I’m a dual citizen.

morseman

Link system to passports

The border control system currently grants foreign passport holders the right to enter the country, for example those with ILR with settled status.

Can’t they expand the system only to dual citizens with foreign passports?

How about entering the country with a visa exemption (like a tourist)? When you come here, there is no problem if you have documents proving that you have the right to stay, which further reduces the need for the correct passport…

MrY

Dual citizenship continues

Some people have dual citizenship by default. For example, if a British person by birth living in another country becomes a naturalized citizen of that country, their British citizenship remains and is extremely difficult, legally expensive and time consuming to relinquish; In fact, it sticks to the person whether he wants it or not.

CillChaoi

British passport makes things easier

Currently, if you are a US citizen with dual US/UK citizenship, you can enter using a US passport as long as you have the correct documentation to prove you hold UK citizenship. But almost every dual citizen I know (and I know many) the first thing they did was get a UK passport because it saved them the hassle of immigration.

Lestat57

Catch-22 situation

The catch-22 on this has been in operation since last summer. If you are a British national traveling to the UK on a foreign passport, you cannot apply for an ETA because you are a British national, but you may be refused boarding (by the airline) or entry because they do not know you are British (even if you have been refused an ETA because they know you are British).

KeithB

Some of the comments in this article have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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