ETA for the UK and dual citizenship

[helluvatime]

If I have understood correctly, you need to travel on your British passport to avoid having to get an ETA OR get a certificate of entitlement (which costs £550!!!) This seems very unfair to me and is particularly so for those of us who have dual nationality kids who want to travel home to see grandparents.

My kids actually do have UK passports now but did not get them for a long time as we are a relatively low income household and getting everyone two passports when not really needed was too much. I think a lot of people are going to be caught out this way! Oh for the pre-Brexit days when you could travel on a £15 ID card....

Anyway, is this right? Has anyone been turned back because they are a British citizen but without a passport?

That seems particularly short sighted.

Assuming that you are not living in the UK, because otherwise this would not be an issue for you, then the government is taking "large sums of money" off people who do, but you expect to get all the benefits that citizenship entitles you to after contributing nothing. I think you are saving quite a lot of money so if you can't afford the comparatively low cost alternative then you probably shouldn't be travelling.

And if you are against the British government charging you for things (most of which are nothing to do with you if you don't live here) please feel free not to bother visiting the UK.

By the way - I have dual citizenship and I do not agree with you, so you aren't representative of all of us.

If you don't have money to get passport, frankly, you don't have money to travel then...

I visit the UK to help elderly relatives and I spend money when I am there. I don't have to agree with everything that the UK government does just because I am a citizen. Weird take.

Nice of you to tell low-income families they don't deserve to see their relatives. A lot of people on this thread come across as very bitter. It is entirely possible to find the way this has been implemented to be unfair and still want to be a British citizen.

If you have a family, it is not just about the money to get a passport, it is the money to get several passports at much higher prices than UK residents.

Atm you don’t even need it 🤦🏻‍♀️

If you do not have a valid document and need to travel soon
Currently, if you’re a British dual citizen with a valid passport for one of the nationalities that can get an ETA, you should be allowed to board transport to the UK as normal, without an ETA.
Published 29 May 2025

I get it sucks. I am dual passport holder. But unfortunately passports are simply a basic travel expense.

Nobody is forcing you to live abroad. Most Brits that live in the EU are fairly affluent tbf and flights are cheap these days.

Your outcry over citizens requiring a passport to enter the country is just ridiculous tbh. But sure you want your cake and eat it. Bad government for wanting some border rules and regulations.

And how many are dual nationals? And how many are dual nationals with only one passport?

This mainly affects families with children. And actually a lot of UK citizens that live in the EU are not affluent and cannot just move to the UK because their spouse would not be able to move with them. They earn local wages and the cost of living bites for them too. Your issue seems to be with British citizens marrying non-British citizens which is rather distasteful. You seem determined to make this personal rather than actually look at the issue and what is fair.

Currently, if you’re a British dual citizen with a valid passport for one of the nationalities that can get an ETA, you should be allowed to board transport to the UK as normal, without an ETA.

Yes - this is what I have already pointed out. Should is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. They are expected to be a bit lenient at the moment but the rule is as described and it is up to the border agent to decide.

Three out of four of my family are dual citizens, two passports is a cost you accept and agree to when you choose to move if you also choose to then visit the other country you have citizenship for. It’s part of the cost of travel, just as the flight ticket is. We just renew our british passports when we visit the UK, even if we didn’t, it only costs £20 more to do it from home, that £60 for three is far less than one flight to the UK.

I don't think there is a rule that states you mustn't apply for an ETA as a UK citizen. What does happen though, is when you apply for your ETA on your foreign passport (as I have), when it asks you if you have any other nationalities you have to say no, or you can't proceed. I presumed they meant any other than UK...ahem....

Myself and 3 kids traveled into the UK on foreign passports, with ETAs and none of us were detained for questioning. I think it's OK. UK govt has said itself that there are a few things to iron out.

Absolutely no one is saying that.

You’re made a choice to live overseas and that comes with additional costs and admin burden.

You're also privileged enough to have 2 citizenships that are usually visa waiver eligible. If you are eg a dual Indian/UK national, you wouldn’t be able to apply for the ETA scheme so you’d need to hold a UK passport to enter the country.

Maybe you are not saying that but others are implying it. As far as choice goes, I made a choice to marry an EU citizen, yes. That does not mean that I have to then have no opinion on anything the government does that affects me.

Eurostar would not issue tickets until we entered the ETA numbers for our NZ passports (the only valid passports 4 of us UK citizens have). It's all very well the UK govt saying they are being lenient, but when other countries are actually trying to follow UK law to the letter, it falls down a bit.

Renewing all our UK passports would have been a huge expense and we were happy to pay for ETAs.

Entering the UK on your UK passport is only really necessary if you live in the UK. We no longer live in the UK so choose to maintain the passport of our country of residence only, esp considering the kids passports only last 5 years.

You need both passports all the time.

We leave the UK on our British one, enter the EU on the German one, leave the EU on the German one and re-enter the UK on the British one.

That was already before ETA and the time where your passport started to get stamped.

The costs for passports are part of our live, we need them for all kind of things. The British one is also needed as proof to work and - if it applies - rent as you don't have a settled status for your EU one.

Hence the problem. British citizens travelling on a foreign passport have to get a certificate of entitlement not an ETA - over £500 not £20 per person including children.

But why on earth would you get a certificate of entitlement over just sorting out a British passport?

3 dual nationals here. I travelled to the Uk a few weeks ago on my British passport. My 2 DCs British passports were expired so they travelled on their EU ones with an ETA. That is what I was advised by the government online chat help.

I will be renewing their British passports, but at the time we lived in a country with a lot of violence and civil unrest. No way was I sending their passports off to be potentially burnt or lost.

It is an annoyance and an extra cost to have 2 passports. But in our case, there was also the local situation to take into account for whether we would be able to renew our passports or not.

You are VERY entitled.
I had not had one holiday abroad as a child because my parents couldn’t afford it. They never complained. Consider yourself very lucky to be able to make memories with your family abroad. Never heard my parents once complain it was someone else’s fault.
What a bizarre thread.

Thats irrelevant though, it’s not about travelling within, the discussion was travelling into the UK from outside.

Either way PP have confirmed Irish passports are exempt.

So because you couldn’t go abroad as a kid, I now have to accept whatever scheme the government dreams up? Seems normal....

They were actually wrong to advise that as it is the opposite of what their website says!

I’m sorry. That sucks.

I would definitely advise getting both though. Border Force were not impressed when we travelled on our child’s other passport because their British passport had expired and they told me there was ‘no record of this other nationality child living in the UK’.