Lost passport! Travel on non-UK one?

NornIronRose

My daughter is due to fly to Morocco tomorrow and can't find her UK passport anywhere. She had it about a month ago and has hunted everywhere to no avail. 

She has an Algerian passport too as her father is Algerian. It states she is an Algerian as that is what they do but shows she was born in the UK. 
She has always lived here. 

Can she risk travelling on it? Fine going into Morocco as they will now let Algerian passport holders go in without a visa. 

Issue will be coming back to the UK. Gov.uk says she MIGHT experience issues coming back in. 

I've watched loads of episodes of Border Patrol in my time and think it would be fairly easy for her to prove she is British. 

Is it too much of a risk? Too late to get an emergency passport of course so that is not an avenue to explore. 

She works in the NHS and is completely exhausted and really needs this holiday. 

Any helpful advice gratefully accepted. 

NornIronRose

I have her old British passport here which clearly shows that she is a British citizen. So she has proof that she is British, plus has a valid passport to travel with to satisfy international law. I think I would take the risk personally. 

silvercar

Can you enter the UK without a visa on an Algerian passport? 

I doubt the UK border will be much of a problem, the main question is whether she will be allowed to board the return flight in Morocco.

could she get an emergency UK passport while in Morocco?

NornIronRose

Good point about getting on the flight in Morocco. I hadn't thought of that. This is why I asked the question as someone else can think of things that we haven't!

NornIronRose

She is travelling with a Moroccan friend and the family have said that if she has a scanned copy of her current passport (she has, thankfully) along with her Algerian passport and her old British passport, they think she should be ok. 

NoodleDoodleMan

If it were me, I'd be seeking advice on the 'phone from an authorative source - presumably that would be the Home Office ?

I also reckon the lost UK passport needs to be reported soonest.

Making assumptions often leads to otherwise avoidable scenarios.

silvercar

NornIronRose said:

She is travelling with a Moroccan friend and the family have said that if she has a scanned copy of her current passport (she has, thankfully) along with her Algerian passport and her old British passport, they think she should be ok. 

I wouldn’t complicate things unnecessarily. If you can enter the UK on an Algerian passport with no visa, then I would think she should be able to board the plane. Showing a copy of her current passport will start questions that could cause confusion eg why isn’t she using it and could ultimately mean her being denied boarding. Once in the UK, entering on her Algerian passport, she may be asked why she isn’t using her UK one, she may even be told that she should be using it, either way she won’t be denied entry once at the UK border. Either she will be allowed entry on her Algerian passport with no fuss or she will be told that she should be using her UK one. If they know she has a UK passport she can’t be denied entry once at the UK border.

Ok, according to google, you need a visa to enter the UK on a Algerian passport. There is a high risk of the airline not allowing her to fly home with only an Algerian passport without a visa. Applying for a visa as a dual national is difficult.

Voyager2002

She can travel to Morocco without problems.

While she is away, could you conduct a really good search of her home, car, anywhere? If you found her passport you could courier it to her enabling her to come home. And if not? Then she would be able to report it as lost and obtain an emergency travel document. That would be stressful, slightly dishonest and would take up a lot of holiday time, but would ultimately work.

Angelica123

NornIronRose said:

She is travelling with a Moroccan friend and the family have said that if she has a scanned copy of her current passport (she has, thankfully) along with her Algerian passport and her old British passport, they think she should be ok. 

They are just guessing though. They don't know that for sure. She will be able to get into Morrocco fine. The issue is returning to the UK. To return to the UK on an Algerian passport, she would need a visa. A copy of her British passport or old British passport would not be adequate travel documentation for them to allow her to board the plane to return to UK. She could try her luck, travel on Algerian passport and apply for emergency travel documentation while abroad. However, she would run into difficulty if Morroco is a country that checks entry stamps on departure  - I once had my passport stolen abroad and got an emergency passport. I then had to go to the embassy to get the new passport retrospectively stamped for my original entry date (as they needed evidence that I hadn't overstayed past my permitted 30 days visa free period). That would be harder to do if their records show she entered the country on a different passport to the alleged lost passport. 

Her safest bet if she truly cannot find it is to apply for emergency travel document now. She should be able to get it within 48 hours. It would only be valid for that trip and then she would need to get a new passport (even if she were to find the old passport later as it would no longer be valid). 

NornIronRose

Thanks for all the helpful replies. We have hunted her flat high and low and it is nowhere to be found. 
On the lost and found in Luton Airport where she last had it, it shows a passport being found in the bathroom at the same time that she was there. But she has rung them and they said there is nothing with her name on the system. 
She has cancelled the passport now. 

Looks as if she won't be going. 

eDicky

Visa-free entry to Morocco for Algerian nationals may well depend on having onward travel arrangements such as return to Algeria, a flight to UK without UK visa not being sufficient.

A UK passport handed in to lost and found and not quickly claimed would probably be returned to HMPO, classed as compromised.

There's no 'emergency travel document' available in UK for a holiday trip.