Anyone work in UK border control? Please help!

[stepfordwifey]

My husband is terminally ill. As a result, we have arranged our daughter’s wedding at very short notice.
Our son is married to a Canadian and lives in Canada with his wife and 2 sons. We have discovered that they require British passports as they’re now deemed to be dual citizens as of Feb 26.
They currently hold valid Canadian passports and ETAs (April 26). There is no time to get British passports which means they’re going to miss the wedding and may not get to see their grandfather again.

Will UK border staff refuse them entry? We cannot find anyone who will help. It seems to rest entirely on their discretion.

So many families are being caught up in this as it wasn’t widely known.

Not a border agent, but a British citizen living abroad. Contact the British Embassy or Consulate - they should be able to get an emergency passport for this situation.

https://www.gov.uk/travel-urgently-from-abroad-without-uk-passport

Unfortunately they need to have held a British passport to use this service. The consulate have just referred them to the UK entry website.

I'm sure you only need a British passport if you've actually registered as a British citizen. If they haven't, then they travel on their Canadian passports as tourists.

They are now deemed to be British citizens by descent following new laws in February.

I'm pretty sure they aren't. You don't just become a british citizen because you're married or born to someone who holds a british passport. They have to register to be a british citizen. If they haven't done this then no one will even know they could be (but aren't) when they travel on their Canadian passports.

Think about this rationally. How would they possibly know as long as they don’t get told? Border force don’t have a long genealogy list of your lineage and possible citizenships in front of them.

Border Force will have no idea that they are British citizens by descent.

As long as the Canadian passports are valid I don’t see an issue arising. They just have to go through non UK Immigration with their mother and use ETAs.

There is some bad advice on this thread. I can’t help either I’m sorry but you know they’re supposed to have passports so ignore those saying otherwise.

Im sorry about your husband, I hope you can find some knowledgeable advice to help

They are now deemed to be British citizens by descent following new laws in February.

The new laws didnt make them dual citizens so check that bit first.

The new law does say that if you are a dual citizen you must use a British passport to enter the UK. You cant use an ETA.

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

really you need to read the government website!

There has actually been a lot of publicity over this this year, so I’m surprised you didn’t that. You can check the children’s status in this government website: https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship