New passport rules for dual citizens

[TheMagpieRobin]

I've seen quite a few stories about how dual citizens must now enter the UK on their British rather than foreign passport.

My kids are technically dual citizens as I am British and they can inherit British citizenship through me. Their dad is from another country and the children were born in that country, we live there and they have passports from that country. We've never bothered applying for British passports for them as there didn't seem to be a need. We don't have any plans to live in the UK or spend longer than a couple of weeks visiting.

I'm quite unsure whether the rule changes apply to them. I suspect the rules do apply and we'd need to get them British passports before we visit again but it's a bit ambiguous because we haven't "claimed" British citizenship for them. At the moment they are just Thai and if we wanted to apply for their British passport we'd have to send off a load of documents and pay a fair chunk of money. I'm not overly worried right now as we got their ETAs before the rule change and those are valid for another year or two and should be enough for them to enter??

Bit niche but I was wondering if anyone has a concrete answer for this based on their own experience?

But there's no need for them to have a British passport. We don't live there and don't plan to move back any time soon.

The change now though is that British citizens can’t enter the UK on a visa, they need to enter as a British citizen.

As others have said, your DC are automatically British citizens provided that you were born in the UK yourself. You don't need to apply or register their citizenship anywhere. They won't be able to pass on their British citizenship automatically, however, as they were born abroad.

You can check if someone is a British citizen here: https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship

Well there is a need - you want to visit the UK and as British citizens having a British ID allows you to enter the country without a visa.

Having British citizenship is very valuable for your children, and will be for their whole lives.

Being able to provide evidence of this is a basic administrative hygiene point IMO.

I also can see why the UK wants people entering the uk with the correct legal documents (!).

You have some odd views about the UK.

Foreigners can't get free NHS treatment, they have to pay. My SIL, married to my brother and with a British daughter, pays £2,500 a year.

They often don't get benefits, I have a friend who is South African, been here twenty years, her visa is "no recourse to public funds", so when they're not working they get nothing.

Just two examples I happen to know, so obviously there are limits.

Yes they need British passports to enter the uk. This is in line with most other countries eg Australia, USA etc. alternatively there is a document that you can apply for for that’s far more expensive than a passport. I would also suggest establishing their right to a passport now is smart in case one of the crazies gets in power and tries to change the rules - your dc at least have a choice.

This is annoying to me as well. I actually have 3 citizenships, and all 3 countries have the same rule (now - the UK was the last one to adopt it).

Very much a first world problem, but its expensive keeping 3 passports up to date!!

There is no change for Irish passport holders. You definitely can enter on Irish passports without a visa, exactly the same as before.

Yep Irish passport holders do not need to hold a British passport and are free to enter the UK on an Irish one.

https://www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship

So they're not eligible for ILR? Because that should give both recourse to public funds and free NHS treatment. Of course there are limits, I don't think I said otherwise so I'm not sure why you're calling me odd? Where I live even if you can qualify for the equivalent of ILR you're still treated as a foreigner for many purposes. And actually for many foreigners there's no opportunity for iLR no matter how long you've been here.

But thanks everyone this thread has confirmed my fear that yes I really do need to get them their passports (even though I think it's an unfair money grab).

Yes it’s so easy 🙄

Mmmm... disagree with that. They dont require originals, they required copies to be posted.

Other countries do everything digitally, banking systems are mostly digital. Biometrics (facial recognition) is good enough for e-gates at airports, surely the Brits should get with the program, if they want people to comply.

It’s a nightmare as dual British / Irish citizens . As you don’t need an ETA but the rules still apply in other ways . My DS is trying to renew his British passport in Oz but has also to hand over his Irish passport and they don’t match as somehow one of them does not have his second middle name. So he has to fly home to renew both in person . Due to time pressure in his visa . Nightmare

I’m in this position at the moment. Dual citizenship and I’m waiting for my new Uk passport that will only be used to travel to the Uk. Been waiting since March. Costing a lot on translation of documents, etc… just hoping that no family emergency will happen in the Uk as I just can’t travel to the UK on my EU passport now.

Madness.
So many people are really having to renew their passports that they never needed before or refute UK nationality, which also comes at a very high price. More expensive than renewing their passports.

@persilasper So even if they’re British they can enter on their Irish one? That would be ideal as the Irish one is €20 and I really don’t want to pay hundreds for two passports that’ll be used once before they expire.

Yeah it’s a bit annoying. I’ve lived in New Zealand since I was 8 years old. My New Zealand-born daughter has only ever visited the UK once, for two weeks, when she was two years old (now 16). I don’t really ever plan to travel back to the UK so it shouldn’t affect me too much but I’m sure DD will want to go travelling at some point.

I would just get them. I’m a dual citizen, as are my dc. We live in the UK, but my birth country has always had this rule. We must enter on our other passport and then we come back on our UK ones. So it doesn’t seem strange at all to me as always what we’ve had to do. Lots of countries are like that. I’d just get them done. Unless you have 10 kids, it’s going to cost a couple hundred quid and probably a trip to the consulate. You never know when there may be an emergency that requires you to come back to the UK quickly. I assume you still have family here? It’s just one of those admin tasks that you have to manage. We do ours every 5 years and make a day of it to go the the embassy.

That's right 🙂

Yes it's super expensive - £75 per passport plus the cost of purchasing birth certificates and marriage certificates of myself and my parents which is an extra £60 plus whatever postage is.

@mindutopia I will do it but I resent it haha. I wouldn't mind so much if the UK wasn't so horribly slow, cumbersome and expensive with things like this. The country we live now renewing a passport takes a morning. It's so quick, fill out a form, pay, pick up the passport later that day.

Not sure how any of that is relevant.

But since you ask, in my first example, my SIL can't apply for ILR until she has been here ten years. The second, they can apply but they simply can't afford it.

I didn't call you odd, I said you had some odd ideas.

If they have been registered as British at any point, the ETA is invalid and they’ll need to come in British passports.

However, regardless of registration, they are British citizens and would likely be treated as such at the border. There have been inconsistent reports of how this has worked out for foreign born children living overseas though.

The ETA application asks if you are a citizen of another country. If you tick Yes, it gives you a list of countries to select from, and UK isn't one of the options you can select.

So, I ticked No. Technically a lie, but they did not allow me to answer truthfully. My ETA was granted immediately.

I have since (recently, since the February changes) travelled to the UK on my Australian passport with ETA.

The above is obviously only going to work for people who aren't born in the UK, because your foreign passport will state your place of birth.