Can British citizens travel to the UK using a non-British passport?

[editorL]

Merged "Entering UK for dual citizens new regulations" and "Can British citizens travel to the UK using a non-British passport?"...

[GoodGrape]

FWIW, I last entered the UK in May 2025 on my German passport with an ETA thats valid till September 2026. I'll be going again ( or trying to ) in the next 10 weeks or so and will report back how it went.
( Haven't had a UK passport since 2017 or so )

I'll be damned if I'll renew my UK passport just for the max once a year ( if at all ) I go there. Too much hassle, especially finding someone upstanding to countersign it.
I'll use the e-gate as usual, assuming I'm allowed boarding here in Germany.

[snowingagain]

Well, take your expired passport with you, perhaps birth certificate. And of course claim you missed/missunderstood the dual citizen question, etc. Good luck. One thing I wonder about, what if you are an automatic British citizen (born to a British mother, but in France) but have never actually acquired a British passport?

[GoodGrape]

No longer have my expired UK passport and my birth certificate is practically unreadable. I'll just take my chances

.Edit: Don't remember seeing a question on the ETA about dual nationality back in March 2025. If the worst comes to the worst, i can show them my pension payments from the DWP in my banking app

As far as I'm concerned, my ETA is valid till september

[Kerfuffle]

N If the worst comes to the worst, i can show them my pension payments from the DWP in my banking app

I think, these are two completely different things though, passport is linked to citizenship. The UK state pension is not linked to that at all, you can draw this without being a UK passport holder/having British citizenship. I think the checks are to make sure nobody stays longer than permissible in the country you enter. Travelling to the UK on your British passport means you are free to visit the UK for as long as you like. And if you decide to stay longer than the permitted time it would not be an issue.

[GoodGrape]

N If the worst comes to the worst, i can show them my pension payments from the DWP in my banking app

I think, this are two completely different things though, passport is linked to citizenship. The UK state pension is not linked to that at all, you can draw this without being a UK passport holder/having British citizenship. I think the checks are to make sure nobody stays longer than permissible in the country you enter. Travelling to the UK on your British passport means you are free to visit the UK for as long as you like. And if you decide to stay longer than the permitted time it would not be an issue.

You're right... either way, a certificate of entitlement is around 400 quid plus, renouncing UK citizenship is 500 quid plus and my flights are likely to be under 100 quid. Getting a new uk passport is a definite no go for me on principle.

I'll still take my chances, worst comes to worst, I get turned away at the check in desk.. even though I have a valid ETA....meh

[GaryC]

You have an ETA in your passport at the moment but the rules change on 25 February. As you cannot (from that date at least) get an ETA as a British citizen, then that ETA will presumably be invalid from that date. The guidance is clear about what is needed from 25 Feb. Whether you choose to ignore it is up to you but it does all sound like, "I don't like this so I am going to try to drive head-on into the wall.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electronic- ... l-citizens

[GoodGrape]

Whether you choose to ignore it is up to you but it does all sound like, "I don't like this so I am going to try to drive head-on into wall

Sounds about right.

After further research, an old passport isn't acceptable either.

[kiplette]

Yeah, I've been saying all of this to kid#3 who has let her passport expire. She's off to see kid#1 next week with her German passport and an ETA which she sorted online the other night and said she didn't have to make any false declarations for.

She's going to get a new passport whilst she's there

94 quid for 10 years isn't so bad. Less than a tenner a year - not hugely more expensive than the ETA, as Andy P pointed out, and with the advantages of being legal and therefore less stressful and more hassle free.

[GoodGrape]

and an ETA which she sorted online the other night and said she didn't have to make any false declarations for.

So no question(s) about dual nationality?

[dstanners]

Just in case it wasn't obvious, I also didn't make any false claims when getting my ETA either (I've always considered it to be fairly poor practice to lie on official forms). I specified that I was a dual Brit-German national when prompted too.

[alma.freya]

and an ETA which she sorted online the other night and said she didn't have to make any false declarations for.

So no question(s) about dual nationality?

Probably doesn't matter considering they are visiting the UK before the new rules come into effect (25 Feb).

I just applied for a new UK passport using the gov.uk online service. I completed the online form and uploaded a digital photograph taken by a friend. No countersign was required. I had to send my current UK passport and a colour photocopy of my German passport (every page).

[yesterday]

Anyone know why they are changing the rules ?

Who is it supposed to target for non entry ?

Or does it give the UK extra powers to spot any TAX thief's ?

[alma.freya]

Who is it supposed to target for non entry ?

Just GoodGrape, I think.

[GoodGrape]

Who is it supposed to target for non entry ?

Just GoodGrape, I think.

[kaffeemitmilch]

I don't get the reluctance to renew a passport, even if it will barely be used. Just for the piece of mind, I would do it. At best, it preserves your ability to prove citizenship easily when needed. The cost is negligible over 10 years, so unless you're really strapped for cash, it's easy enough to have it.

Also, if one's birth certificate is unreadable or lost, it would make sense to get a new copy. It's called a vital record for a reason.

[Feierabend]

Anyone know why they are changing the rules ?

Who is it supposed to target for non entry ?

Or does it give the UK extra powers to spot any TAX thief's ?

This article provides some background (a trail of muddled decisions)
Will British dual nationals really be forced to have a valid UK passport from February? https://share.google/gvoyAdc0ZjCNPXFvO
Scroll down to 'Use another passport" for the 'logic' of not being allowed to use an ETA.

[HEM]

This is all very interesting as my (now adult) children were born in Germany & hence have
German citizenship (& ID) but also have British citizenship "by descent".

They have never had a British passport; both visited the UK (with me) in pre-Brexit times, using their German ID.

They did have German passports (since expired) for when we visited the US in 2006/7.

[Cloud9]

I happened to read this thread on Friday 9th Jan and realised my plan to use my German passport and apply for an ETA for the flight I have booked for 30.1.26 could cause issues/was no longer possible. I didn't even try to do the ETA application, but the notes on gov.uk are very clear that from now on an ETA is not for a UK citizen. I did the online passport application and posted off my old passport and colour photocopy of my German passport that afternoon and crossed my fingers that the new UK one would be back in time. It arrived today 20.1.2026 - so less than a 2 week turnaround (although I did pay for express DHL to send the paperwork which might have speeded up the process by a couple of days). They received my documents in the morning of 13.1.26 ... by 15.1.26 it was printed.

Maybe this helps anyone who, like me, has to renew their existing passport in a hurry. Obviously in summer processing times might be longer.

For me there was no way I wanted to simply turn up with a passport which although still valid thru to mid July, technically was no longer valid for travel as it had 6 months added to it when I renewed it back in 2016 and chance that everything would be ok.

[yesterday]

This all sounds very very sensible to me.