Dual citizens with expired passports

[Disturbedisanunderstatement]

Don’t know if there is a thread on this already so happy to join an existing one if that is the case.
Posting in Aibu for traffic. Don’t care if iabu or not. I just need to fly to the UK next week and UK passport is expired.
I could fly almost anywhere in the world on my eu passport so it is ironic I am technically locked out of my country of origin but that’s where I have a work meeting spontaneously scheduled for next week. I would literally fly in the morning and out on the evening.

Anyone else in a similar position?

Apparently these airlines are accepting expired passports:

British Airways
easyJet
Lufthansa
Singapore Airlines
United
Virgin Atlantic

Anyone actually had success with this yet? Or works with the airlines and can confirm passengers will be allowed to travel?

Oh wow. I had no idea. I can't find much information on this and no official information but I think you might be right. I think I stand corrected. Still not sure why I can't enter with a naturalisation certificate though.

Yes, if you’ve got married or reverted to maiden name, expired passport won’t help you. I’d imagine a lot of people are going to lose money, and there’s many who will be unaware, of the ETA requirement or the dual national issue.

Oh that's a nightmare. I've been in that position for years as the country I was already a citizen of have that requirement, but I got stripped of citizenship when I natualised, but someone the system also expects me to enter the country on a valid passport even though can't apply for one because my citizenship was stripped. Can't even officially renounce, total limbo.

This is a spectacular UK Botch up, all they need to do on the ETA application form is have a box asking if you are have dual nationality with UK, Yes, or No.
Have you ever owned a UK passport ? Yes or No
Is it expired? info/date....
Pay the same sodding price as every other worldwide traveller.

Also, why is the digital Certificate of Entitlement nearly £600? it should cost the same as a passport,so that's a total scam. The only advantage is, if I am correct, is that it's valid indefinitely, so better for children than a superfluous UK passport, which needs renewing X times in a lifetime.

Also, when you book to buy a flight to, say, Canada, on the web site it always mentions, that you are required the Visa. At least you get a heads up before booking !

yes its a piece of paper - a bit like a birth certificate. Once you have your naturalisation certificate you can use it to apply for British PP

Yeah, and?
I'm British, married to a French man, living in the Netherlands. We got all the British paperwork lined up for our kids ASAP after they were born as we wanted to maximise their opportunities (e.g. they might want to live/study/work in the UK in the future for all we know) and because we don't trust the British government any further than we can throw them (they constantly move the goalposts; just ask the Windrush generation and the EU citizens living in the UK who have no physical or even digital proof of their right to reside in Britain). Why would you not get every bit of paperwork you can get for your kids?
It's annoying and expensive but not difficult.

I find it quite odd there’s so many Brits living in Australia for example who got Australian Citizenship but had no idea their children were dual citizens. That’s definitely something i’d have looked into when they were born, but comments all over FB groups from Aussies saying they had no clue their own children were British.

@Angelil, Yes it ideal, but costly & arduous keeping several passports renewed at multiple different dates, depending on number of DCs when you already have perfectly valid passports for the country you are actually resident in.

Do you not think UK border force will verify the document against their own records?

Because having a UK birth certificate does not automatically equate to citizenship.

Oh this is also a total non story. Do you seriously think that the passport office has never seen a woman's Spanish passport before? (Ditto French etc where it's the same situation) I'm pretty sure they understand what they look like / how this is meant to work.
I also have a French passport, which lists my maiden name and married name (standard for French passports), whereas my British passport only lists my married name. You just chuck in a copy of your marriage certificate and a letter of explanation with the other passport documentation when applying. It's really not that hard.

The certificate isn't valid indefinitely.... it expires when your passport does (a bit like US ESTA's being linked to a specific passport), so it's an expensive way to do it.

People talking about certificates etc. Not helpful to this conversation. It’s a pre entry system where .carriers are required to check people have the right documentation before they can board a plane or ferry.
That is. A British or Irish passport. Another passport with a visa or an ETA. For a while you can use an expired British passport too. A few other categories.
Visas are digital now so can be checked in advance. So airline can check if every single person has the right documents before they get on the plane. They cannot casework and interview people and look at birth certificates and the like. UK Border Force can do that if necessary but you’re not going to get that far as you won’t get on the plane if you don’t have the right passport or pre clearance thing.
It’s pretty universal now.

But you don't have to do this. Birth certificates can be ordered from the GRO and sent directly to the passport office with the PEX number included as part of the address. They don't need to go halfway round the world to you and back again.
You also don't need to send your foreign passport away. The list of required documents says perfectly clearly that a colour photocopy of every page of the foreign passport is fine.

I'm honestly convinced that people are hell bent on making this MORE complicated than it really is.

Yes she is and yes they do. I live in the Netherlands so know loads of people in this situation. Children of a Dutch parent and a British parent are allowed to have and keep dual nationality. You therefore need to apply for a passport for your daughter.

Forgive me for believing a Guardian article

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/16/border-rules-dual-nationals-discriminatory-women-passport-names-campaigners-say

LOL. This shows how little people know about citizenship.
First of all, you can live abroad for many years and not be entitled to another passport/citizenship anywhere ever if you live in many countries during that time (most countries require you to live there for 5 years as a minimum; some countries require longer; if you move a lot then you may not actually hit the minimum requirement anywhere).
Also, citizenship has nothing to do with entitlement to a pension accrued in the UK (lots of people live and work in the UK, contributing to a pension all the while, without ever becoming British citizens...this doesn't make them unentitled to their pension). In the same way, NHS access is based on residency, not citizenship.

That’s a good point.
When he gets home I’ll get him to have a look and see if it mentions me anywhere.
He was born and raised here in Italy. Only ever travelled to the U.K. on Italian ID (pre Brexit) and an Italian passport post-Brexit.

He has DH’s properly Italian surname and all his Christian names are Italian. So how would they know that he is British via me ?

You won't be able to do that when travelling as a family with children (who cannot use the gates).

You can still apply for a British passport. You don't need to send in your foreign one. They just ask for a colour photocopy of every page - not the actual passport.

My children were not born in the UK and have never lived there. Talk to them for 5 seconds and you will find that they sound as British as you do. I (their mother) am British and they are British through me. They are totally fluent English speakers, as well as being fluent in 2 other languages. They have British passports.

Honestly, the ignorance on this thread is breathtaking.

Charming. What other citizenship(s) would you like my children to have, apart from the citizenships OF THEIR PARENTS (British and French)?

Not a UK birth certificate, a British Born Overseas birth certificate.

A bit more. I just renewed mine. It cost 127EUR for the passport itself (around 108GBP), plus 18EUR for me to get the photos done and 12EUR for the postage. So in total 157EUR. It will cost a bit less for children (but then again so it should given that children's passports are only valid for 5 years vs. the adults' 10 year passports).

I live in Italy. Left the U.K. in 1989. They want me to prove I’m really still me with parents’ and grandparents’ birth marriage death certificates. The site I get sent to for GRO numbers, doesn’t tell me a GRO number, or at least I can’t see it.

I can’t even find a photo place that gives you a digital code in town. And so far the site hates every picture I’ve tried to take of myself.

I’m not built for all this level of admin. Which is how my passport ended expired for so long in the first place. Italian DH takes care of of all Italian admin because I end up flustered and throwing in the towel by the time I’ve been sent to yet another counter for more “stamps”.

Big horrible crisis ? Multiple casualties ? I’m your woman.

Admin doom maze… not so much.