AIBU to feel conflicted over dual nationality?

[FraughtwithGin]

One of my best friends has just been granted dual nationality GB/country where she lives.
How does this work?
She is quite unhappy about having to go through the whole process (thanks Brexiteers) as she has lived in said country for over 30 years, married a citizen, bought a house etc. worked.
She is now wondering which passport to use when.
Can anyone shed any light?
Thanks.

when it's entirely possible to be a dual (or treble) national and hold a passport for each. Quite legitimately.

Of course. It's also possible to be a dual national and only hold one passport, because for whatever reason you choose not to obtain/renew a passport for one of your nationalities.

Many Britons and probably most Europeans don't even have one passport let alone two!

@Mistigri

when it's entirely possible to be a dual (or treble) national and hold a passport for each. Quite legitimately.

Of course. It's also possible to be a dual national and only hold one passport, because for whatever reason you choose not to obtain/renew a passport for one of your nationalities.

Many Britons and probably most Europeans don't even have one passport let alone two!

That's Americans you're thinking of ... a great proportion of whom never leave the US.

For Europeans - well, real Europeans, not Britons - passports aren't generally needed if you have other ID and are just mooching around in the Schengen zone.

I say generally, as countries can still apply tougher checks if the need arises (terrorism, Eurovision etc ...)

Actually you could travel just on national ID card even to UK😁 But god forbid you lost it if you were from my country, because your shit bassy doesn't make new ones🙄

Actually you could travel just on national ID card even to UK

I think as a proud non-member of the Schengen area, you always need a passport to enter the UK, except from RoI.

@ProfessorSlocombe

Actually you could travel just on national ID card even to UK

I think as a proud non-member of the Schengen area, you always need a passport to enter the UK, except from RoI.

Well no one told the border agents when I and millions of others from EU countries travel just on ID cards. 😁

National identity cards are currently accepted instead of passports:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visiting-the-uk-after-brexit

We got UK citizenship last year and still only use our German passport. To be honest, the British one is for us a formality as we decided to continue living here but I don't feel British. So using my German passport comes more natural. I got once questiones at the UK border control after I returned from abroad if I am visiting the UK but he didn't read it properly as it clearly shows my home town as London and issued by the German embassy.

I keep all of them up to date.

@ProfessorSlocombe

Actually you could travel just on national ID card even to UK

I think as a proud non-member of the Schengen area, you always need a passport to enter the UK, except from RoI.

Hm, tell that the huge amount of German tourist who don't have a passport, just the identity card and still travel happily to the UK (well in the past). Germans often only get a passport if they travel long-haul as all in the EU and some bordering countries the Identity card is absolute sufficient.

Yeah. I think it's a no after Brexit. Which is now with travel restrictions an issue because lots of people are here just on ID card and will need to get their passports done either in their country or through the embassies which usually have incredible waiting times even without covid.

I think as a proud non-member of the Schengen area, you always need a passport to enter the UK, except from RoI.

Nope. I travel to the UK on my German ID card just because i can. You're slightly misunderstanding how Schengen works. I cross the German/Dutch border regularly, (more than once a month) pre-Schengen there was border control and you had to at least wave something in the general direction of the guard (depending on numberplate i guess they stopped some people). Post-Schengen the border posts were dismantled completely and it's as though it's one big country in terms of movement around them.

I have both an EU country and USA passport. I generally use the EU one as that is where I live and have fewer restrictions on using it (have visited Cuba in the past, for example). But I use the USA one when travelling to or from there (except when re-entering my own country, I don’t need to go into a visa line thanks).

You enter and leave the UK on your UK passport

I almost never leave the UK on my UK passport. I'm usually flying to the US so I usually leave on my US passport. It makes it clear at check-in that I have permission to enter the US, whereas because I don't have an ESTA, my UK passport doesn't give me permission to enter the US.

TheWordWomanIsTaken
^^ I think what the pp meant was that you don't have to hold a passport to be a citizen of a country. It doesn't make you any less of a citizen because you don't apply for a passport. So you could have dual or triple nationality but only hold a passport for one of those citizenships.

No, still not true

I hold my UK passport, and another one from an EU country. Two passports. My SiL holds those two and a US one to boot. Three passports. She has to use the US one to enter and leave the US

Er, what isn't true - you misunderstood what I am saying. You can be a citizen of a country but not have to hold a passport - it doesn't make you any less of a citizen. That your sil is a US citizen and its laws mean that she has to enter the country on that specific passport is frankly irrelevant to what I was saying.

I'm in the process of applying for nationality of the country of my birth.

I doubt I'll bother getting a passport - all I really want is recognition that I'm a citizen for now, in case I decide to live in the EU at some point in the future.

If you hold 2 passports and travel to a third country, it is good advice to enter and leave that country with the same passport or you may be questioned on leaving or on entering the country the next time.

You can be a citizen of a country but not have to hold a passport - it doesn't make you any less of a citizen.

Absolutely, people are really misunderstanding what you're saying.

I got my second citizenship at the beginning of this year and I haven't bothered applying for a passport yet as my British passport is still valid. I'm still an Icelandic citizen even though I don't have an Icelandic passport.

When it expires I'll get an Icelandic passport and not bother getting a new British passport, because I don't need two passports and Icelandic ones are cheaper/faster/easier to obtain. I'll still remain a British citizen.

@Ellmau

OF course you can let it lapse if you want. But I would keep it updated just in case you ever wanted it, because a new passport after a agap, while in a foreign country, is likely to be a massive hassle.

But I can't see any reason this would be the case? Citizenship doesn't expire just because you don't live there any more. Why wouldn't I be able to renew an expired passport just because it had expired years ago rather than months ago? Genuine question, I would be very interested to know if there actually is something in the application process that requires the expired passport to be recently expired, because I don't remember that.

I’ve ‘lucky’ one with a treble, I travel with all three and use which even one has the most favourable conditions for entering - ie not having to pay for a visa etc.

I have triple nationality - both my parents were born in different countries, and I was born in the UK!

I use my Australian passport to travel to Australia as it means I don't need to apply for Visa. Up until Brexit, I used my British passport to travel around Europe as it was easier to get through customs and passport control.

I've never owned a passport from the third country (Seychelles), but if I did, I would definitely use it to travel there as there are plenty of benefits to being "local" - including not paying tourist prices and not needing a visitors permit.

I have dual US-UK. I have to enter the US on the US passport, and enter the UK on the UK passport, but other than that I can use either passport

I've only travelled to Europe since gaining dual citizenship - in Europe I used my UK passport

Thats what we do too.
It also gets expensive maintaning valid pasports x2 for each family member.

I have a long-expired passport from a country now associated with drugs and violent criminals. I would like to renounce this nationality but it would be costly.

Too many of my DF’s relatives have been shot at or attacked with machetes for me to want to go there again.

I almost never leave the UK on my UK passport. I'm usually flying to the US so I usually leave on my US passport. It makes it clear at check-in that I have permission to enter the US, whereas because I don't have an ESTA, my UK passport doesn't give me permission to enter the US.

The check in is to make it clear to the airline that you've got permission, otherwise they get fined for carrying people without documentation. When I check in they ask for my passport I arrive with, Australian.

At UK border control however my Australian passport, if checked, would make me look like an overstayer or without visa

Genuine question, I would be very interested to know if there actually is something in the application process that requires the expired passport to be recently expired, because I don't remember that.

I was really curious about this, as it happened to a friend recently and she really struggled to get her UK passport renewed. Turns out if your passport is beyond a certain age you have to apply again for a first passport and potentially have an interview.

Similar with US passports - if it's beyond 15 years old you have to apply in person rather than by mail.

‘If you hold 2 passports and travel to a third country, it is good advice to enter and leave that country with the same passport or you may be questioned on leaving or on entering the country the next time.’

Been in and out of countries on different passports and have never been stopped or questioned about it. Always thought that it was a bit of a worrying loop hole that the passports aren’t linked in some way...