Travelling with EU passports

[Fiftyisthenewsixty]

We live in an EU country and have dual citizenship. Since Brexit I've always got my kids British and EU passports - maybe a bit paranoid! Now I have to renew them and wondered if they really need British passports? What does everyone else do?

DH and the DC have 2 passports and dual nationality (we live in The UK)
I think the more passports the better really

My kids mostly have Irish passports, but have had UK passports, since an Irish passport is accepted in UK there is no reason to have a UK passport. In reality I often alternate for convenience so they are not without a passport while it is being renewed.

As long as your kids can get a UK passport easily any time they might need it eg they want to live in the the UK, I don't think you need to hold 2.

We keep up with both passports. It’s always useful to have a second passport.

This may sound a bit paranoid, but if I could have 2 passports I'd make sure I always had up to date ones of both. As we have seen with the Ukraine, things can suddenly change in the world and if one passport suddenly becomes unusable it's always good to have a back up option.

@Fiftyisthenewsixty

At the end of this year (or more likely, in the autumn of 2024 after the Paris Olympics) both the EU and UK will be introducing a form of ETIAS visa waiver which will require travellers to pre-apply for a visa waiver. If your family members have both passports they will not need to apply for this in either direction - they can enter the UK on the UK passport and enter the EU on the EU passport without the hassle of ETIAS.

When this system is introduced I predict chaos at airport check-in desks and at immigration in the arrival country for at least the initial 6 months, so having both passports would be an excellent idea if you or your family frequently travel between the EU and UK.

As above, the more the merrier.
If you travel into the UK on an EU ppt and it gets stamped, or vice versa, into the EU on a BC ppt, you may ultimately look as if you've overstayed in one or the other (though of course you have the right to be indefinitely in both)

Apart from my job (immigration related) my daughter is a dual EU/BC national and we are currently waiting (believe it or not, the appointment she has been given is June 2024!!!) for her EU passport renewal. So she's using her BC one but has to take all her EU docs with her all the time so it doesn't get stamped.

Or if 2 days before your holiday you realise that your DDs passport just expired you can use the other one 😀

We have both Br and EU passports and we'll keep both going I think even though we are leaving the UK. Dh only has EU.

Dc also have American passports which we have let lapse but we would have to renew if one of them wanted to visit USA on holiday.

Thanks everyone. You've convinced me to renew both!

My son has a British passport and an EU ID card; for now he doesn’t need his EU passport, as he can travel within EU with his ID card. If it’s a cost issue, I’d lose the EU passport as you can use the ID card for travel.

We all have non EU citizenship but not renewed our passports. It costs money and we never use it anyway. DH has travelled back once with a British passport. Custom officer just told him he will need to be stamped as a visitor but not have any problems either.

You need to travel into the country you live in on that passport, but for short trips it may be ok to let the other country's passport lapse, just not USA ones as they are very strict