UK ETA (I'm a dual national)

adamL

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

la531983

Why cant you input a British address, are you living on the streets when you get here?

Enter the address of where you are staying. Hotel, friends house. Whatever.

jim1999

I can't see it being a problem.  You don't have to have a British passport to be exempt from the ETA - permission to live in the UK is noted as being adequate.  So plenty of people will be ETA exempt but not hold a British passport.

Border force should be fine once you've explained it - technically you don't need to show any passport at all to enter the UK.  The biggest risk is the airline getting worried about it, but since you've got your UK driving licence I would think they'd be satisfied that you live in the UK.

MyRealNameToo

adamL said:

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

gov.uk/eta/when-not-need-eta

In principle you cannot use the ETA if you are a British citizen even if you are dual (or more) nationality per the link above. UK is actually fairly unusual in that it allows British Citizens to enter/leave on other passports they hold, many countries require their citizens to use their native passports even if they hold dual citizenship. 

Where are your British passports? Could someone send them to you? 

Van_Girl

la531983 said:

Why cant you input a British address, are you living on the streets when you get here?

Enter the address of where you are staying. Hotel, friends house. Whatever.

I think OP means that it won't accept his UK address. He lives in the UK

jimi_man

Your biggest problem will be the airline - depending on who it is. Some are more over zealous than others, generally the low cost ones are the worst. However as British Citizens you don't need an ETA so just show the copy of your UK passport to prove you are a British Citizen and you should be fine.

Immigration is a lot more straightforward, if they ask about it (unlikely as I don't think it's being enforced yet) again just show the copy of your UK passport again to prove you are a British Citizen.

Emmia

adamL said:

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

Why are you travelling without both passports, for both of you? It's against the rules to enter a country of which you are a citizen without a passport to demonstrate this. 

What address is on your UK licence?

In your situation you may end up having to fill in ETA, even though it's not applicable.

MyRealNameToo

Emmia said:

adamL said:

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

Why are you travelling without both passports, for both of you? It's against the rules to enter a country of which you are a citizen without a passport to demonstrate this. 

Not in the UK it isn't, used by Irish passport for years. 

Partner is from latin America, there you can enter on any passport but you must use your local passport to leave the country. 

The US requires you to use your US passport to enter and exit the country and whilst they may think that the rest of the world is the same it's not, each country sets its own laws. 

Emmia

MyRealNameToo said:

Emmia said:

adamL said:

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

Why are you travelling without both passports, for both of you? It's against the rules to enter a country of which you are a citizen without a passport to demonstrate this. 

Not in the UK it isn't, used by Irish passport for years. 

Partner is from latin America, there you can enter on any passport but you must use your local passport to leave the country. 

The US requires you to use your US passport to enter and exit the country and whilst they may think that the rest of the world is the same it's not, each country sets its own laws. 

The CTA means Irish passports have slightly different rules, and holders rights in the UK

sheramber

  https://www.gov.uk/eta/when-not-need-etaDual citizens

If you’re a dual citizen with British or Irish citizenship, you cannot get an ETA. When you travel to the UK you’ll need to prove your citizenship using:

• a valid British passport
• a valid Irish passport
• another valid passport containing a certificate of entitlement

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63299488d3bf7f75c6b14dbf/Information_for_British_nationals_care_of_certificates_of_registration_and_naturalisation.pdf


RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE UNITED KINDOM – NOTE FOR BRITISH CITIZENS All British Citizens have the right of abode in the United Kingdom. If, as a British Citizen, you wish to travel on a non-British passport it must be endorsed to show that you have the right of abode. Otherwise, you might experience difficulty proving your right to be re-admitted to the United Kingdom. Certificates of entitlement to the right of abode are issued by the Home Office to applicants to the United Kingdom and by the appropriate British representative to applicants abroad. A fee is payable in both cases. Certificates can only be issued to someone who does not have a British passport or identity card describing them as a British citizen or British subject with right of abode. A certificate will cease to be valid once the passport it is attached to expires and cannot be transferred from one passport to another. For information on current processing times, information about fees or other matters, contact the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 2253. British citizens who are overseas should write to their nearest British representative. Please make sure that any application is made in good time befor

jimi_man

Emmia said:

adamL said:

Hello,

I am flying back to the UK on Monday. I'm a dual national - British and Finnish. I have for years and years travelled around Europe with just my Finnish passport and this trip was no different - my UK passport is in the UK and I'm in the EU. 

I completely forgot about the ETA now in place though. 

According to the rules I am exempt. But how do I prove that without my British passport (I have a copy of it but not the actual passport). 

I'm willing to pay the ETA fee online but I can't enter a UK address (so I would need to make up an address abroad). 

I have my UK driving licence with me. I also have my 4 year old daughter with me - same problem. 

Any helpful tips would be hugely appreciated. 

Thank you

Why are you travelling without both passports, for both of you? It's against the rules to enter a country of which you are a citizen without a passport to demonstrate this. 

What address is on your UK licence?

In your situation you may end up having to fill in ETA, even though it's not applicable.

It's unfortunate that posts like this are allowed to remain on this forum since not only is it completely wrong and misleading, other people might see it and act incorrectly on the information contained within.

If you are a UK citizen then you have a right of abode and entry cannot be denied, whether or not you are in possession of any sort of passport at all. It may take a bit longer but once your citizenship has been established then entry will follow.

Just to reiterate, you can enter and leave the UK on any passport that you own. If anything other than a UK passport then there may well be associated issues relevant to that countries passport (e.g. for a EU/US passport then an ETA may well be expected and technically entry will be granted for six months, no work etc, but once you can prove UK citizenship then there won't be a problem, but will just be a few more questions than you'd get on a UK Passport. It's recommended that a UK passport is used just because it's easier and entry is straightforward, however it's not a problem using a (Finnish) passport, especially if one has a copy of your UK Passport on your phone, so that the BF Officer can run that through the machine if necessary. Most won't bother once they've seen it. 

Lots of  EU dual nationals don't bother carrying a UK passport since you don't need it to enter the UK and an EU one is far more convenient to travel round Europe. The ETA has caused a little headache but as long as one has a copy of the UK passport with clearly readable print then the headache will disappear.