British citizen travelling on foreign passport? Visa?

benjus

My son lives abroad and has dual nationality between British and where he lives. He is due to come here for a few weeks in the summer.

However, his British passport expires before that, so his mother submitted an application (using the new online system) to renew it. It arrived at the Durham passport office 2 months ago but they have still not completed it. I've tried chasing it by phone and email and just get vague answers like "it's in process, can't see any concerns". I'm starting to worry that it won't be done in time.

He could potentially get a passport of his other nationality, but this nationality requires a visa to enter Britain. Is it possible for a British national to get a visa to enter Britain in a foreign passport?

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what the outcome was.

duchy

A lot will depend on what nationality it is -theoretically it may be possible but he should be checking locally with his British Embassy.

benjus

Thanks - actually, thinking about it I guess an emergency travel document might be easier if it does come to that.

smudge56

The emergency travel doc is usually for 1 journey only.
He could make a fast track application whilst in the UK but he would have to withdraw the online application and lose the fee already paid

System

If he travels on the passport of his other nationality then he is traveling as a person from that country so will require a visa

callum9999

!!!!!! wrote: »

If he travels on the passport of his other nationality then he is traveling as a person from that country so will require a visa

I don't know if they have any, but are you sure that if they have official proof of British citizenship then they would still need the visa.

PolishBigSpender

!!!!!! wrote: »

If he travels on the passport of his other nationality then he is traveling as a person from that country so will require a visa

Rubbish. As an EEA/CH citizen, he doesn't need a visa. It doesn't matter what travel document he uses, he is still an EEA/CH citizen and therefore allowed to entry and leave as he pleases. I entered the UK once using a German
residence permit which clearly stated my Polish citizenship. EEA/CH citizens simply won't be refused entry unless they pose a threat to public security.



The passport is merely to verify his identity. Of course, it would make sense to carry some proof of his British citizenship in order to avoid delays at passport control, but he is under no obligation to have a visa to enter the UK. In fact, he would be refused a visa on the grounds of not requiring one.


It is worth pointing out that the airline in question will probably want to see proof of his citizenship before allowing him to board. A birth certificate and a copy of his British passport (or the expired one) should do the job.


Amazing how much misinformation is spread on MSE.

jonesMUFCforever

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Rubbish. As an EEA/CH citizen, he doesn't need a visa. It doesn't matter what travel document he uses, he is still an EEA/CH citizen and therefore allowed to entry and leave as he pleases. I entered the UK once using a German
residence permit which clearly stated my Polish citizenship. EEA/CH citizens simply won't be refused entry unless they pose a threat to public security.

As we don't know which country he is living in now how can you say this?

System

He may be fine entering the country, it is leaving the original country will be the problem. If he e.g. is travelling as an Egyptian then the airline will expect him to have a visa to get into the UK otherwise they are liable for the return flight and a fine (assumes that Egyptians need a visa to get into UK , I have no idea)

I am assuming that he will be coming from a non EEA country

In your case it sounds as though you were travelling within the EEA using EAA documents which doesn't sound like the case here.

PolishBigSpender

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As we don't know which country he is living in now how can you say this?[/QUOTE

It's an irrelevance. You don't lose your citizenship (in most countries) by simply not living in the country in question. As I said, as an EEA/CH citizen, he can come and go as he pleases irrespective of any other citizenship held.

He may be fine entering the country, it is leaving the original country will be the problem. If he e.g. is travelling as an Egyptian then the airline will expect him to have a visa to get into the UK otherwise they are liable for the return flight and a fine (assumes that Egyptians need a visa to get into UK , I have no idea)

I am assuming that he will be coming from a non EEA country

In your case it sounds as though you were travelling within the EEA using EAA documents which doesn't sound like the case here.

He will be fine entering the country. They will certainly hold him for further processing, but he has the right to enter the country as a British citizen. There's nothing more to it.


The airline might be funny about it, but preparing as much proof as possible of his citizenship is important.


As for me, the rules apply to me as apply to all other EEA/CH citizens. We have an almost unlimited right to come and go as we please, except in a very few situations. The lack of a travel document does not in itself stop someone from passing through passport control.


The actual passport held is quite an irrelevance, as it is merely a form of identity. What matters at passport control is establishing citizenship. A passport or ID card is the quickest way to do that, but there are also many other ways to establish that.

System

Australia don't take your stance

International airlines have an obligation to ensure that they only carry appropriately documented passengers to Australia. In the absence of an Australian passport, airlines are unable to verify a claim of Australian citizenship at the time of check-in and may refuse boarding

As I said leaving the country with only a valid non-UK passport will be a problem for the OP's son if they do not have the required visa to go with it.

As for me, the rules apply to me as apply to all other EEA/CH citizens. We have an almost unlimited right to come and go as we please, except in a very few situations. The lack of a travel document does not in itself stop someone from passing through passport control.

Only for travel within the EEA/CH.

You appear to be fixated on the EEA/CH thing. It may be the case with the EEA/CH but unfortunately the rest of the world is different. If you travel on a passport from X and it requires a visa to get into Y then you will not get on the aircraft. Outside the EEA/CH the only accepted (in 99% of the cases) proof is a valid passport