Experience with travelling to the UK under their new travel rules with foreign-born duel-citizen children

Posted by jamin589@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 33 comments

It might be a little early to post this as the new rules only came in yesterday, but I'll try anyway...

I am a British-born duel British/Canadian citizen living in Canada. I have a 4 year old daughter who currently only has a Canadian passport. She is eligible for a British one, and I have been planning to get her one when we visit the UK later this year (to avoid mailing originals of birth certificates etc. internationally). Under the new rules, I believe that she technically needs a British passport to travel to the UK (she can no longer get an ETA as a Canadian).

My question is, has anybody in a similar situation tried taking their British duel-citizen children that don't have a British passport to the UK under the new rules? Did you encounter any issues? Given that the British government don't currently know that she exists as a British citizen (as she was born in Canada), can we get away with travelling with her Canadian passport, or will the airline or UK customs flag her as British given that she will be travelling with a British parent?

Thanks!

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Alarming_Squash_3731@reddit

No it’s not wrong. It’s still fine - they just don’t want you to but can’t actually stop it.

Previously they weren’t even enforcing ETAs at all - ie if you didn’t have one you could still board. They don’t have any mechanism to tell who is or isn’t a dual citizen.

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nanoose-mike@reddit

"They don’t have any mechanism to tell who is or isn’t a dual citizen." Maybe, just look at place of Birth printed in the passport.

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Ziggamorph@reddit

Being born in the UK doesn’t make you British, and you can be British and born outside the UK.

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Browbeaten9922@reddit

I'm not sure being eligible for a British passport means your a British citizen per see. You still need to apply for it. She will not be a citizen until OP tells Britain she exists and should be if that makes sense.

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Ziggamorph@reddit

No, this is not correct either. If you are British from birth you don’t need to apply for anything. Applying from a passport or not doesn’t change the legal fact of your citizenship.

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CuriosTiger@reddit

Maybe there are countries that don't have jus soli? Maybe foreign countries have different citizenship laws than what you're used to at home?

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Alarming_Squash_3731@reddit

Sarcastically wrong is the worst way to be wrong…

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Incantanto@reddit

Oddly enough its generally a bad idea to lie on immigration documents

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Alarming_Squash_3731@reddit

There’s no lying.

rainbowinthedark_@reddit

Just a heads up that if you live abroad, you CANNOT apply in person for a passport. When we traveled to the UK in 2023, I took all my paperwork to apply for a passport for my daughter and was told by the UK Passport phone line which I called after we arrived that we must apply by mail. The reasoning was something about how Royal Mail can only mail internally in the country when applying via a passport office. They use DHL for applicants abroad.

TrainSpecialist2894@reddit

someguy984@reddit

They walked back the requirement, see article:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-23/more-uk-passport-rule-changes-electronic-travel-authorisation/106377682

sbc869@reddit

Is this true?!??? In a panic I applied for a UK passport on Feb 18th …. AND SENT MY EXPIRED PASSPORT TO THE UK!!!! 🤦

They are usually really fast.

I hope so. I Fly on April 2nd with my father ashes for memorial on the 6th and funeral on the 10th. They confirmed they have my application and my documents (February 26th) so now the stressful waiting game 😭

Griffen67@reddit

i’m a dual U.K./Canadian citizen, born in the U.K. but haven’t had a U.K. passport for over 20 years since i have lived in Canada for decades. I have a trip to the U.K. booed in June and was panicking due to the new rules. I applied online for the new passport, they confirmed receiving my documents on March 1, and approved, printed, and sent the passport on March 12. I received it on March 18 by courier.i am very impressed.

Recent-Link9409@reddit

UK ETA is for visa-free travellers, but British citizens can’t use an ETA. If your daughter is already a British citizen by descent, travelling on only her Canadian passport can backfire at boarding—GOV.UK says dual citizens should travel with a British passport (or another passport + a Certificate of Entitlement/Right of Abode).

CompetitiveFlatworm2@reddit

Whilst this is correct, it doesn't really make sense, I read yesterday that British citizens cannot get an ETA, and that children born to a British parent overseas are automatically British. My kids don't yet have British passports but they do have an ETA from the last time we traveled to the UK. we are supposed to go again in April so now the ETA'S are not valid and they must get a British passport , what are these new rules for, do you have any idea ?

marxistopportunist@reddit

what are these new rules for, do you have any idea ?

Not the reply you're expecting, but increasing costs and difficulties around air travel are for the same reason the same applies to driving. Finite natural resources.

It's laughable how this makes absolutely no sense, there is no problem that needs to be solved here. Airlines face fines, apparently, because they let a British national travel to Britain.

There’s a thread on r/dualcitizennerds where someone describes your situation and there was no problem. Just get an ETA on the overseas passport and it’ll be fine. If you’re going back permanently or for a long time the you’ll need a passport.

This is now wrong.

The uk is specificallt saying you can't get an ETA if you are a british citizen, even if normally people with your other passport would be able to

You have two legal options. The first is to obtain a UK passport for your daughter. The second is to obtain a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode in the UK. This was a vignette (sticker) that would have been placed in your daughter's foreign passport, but I believe they are currently transitioning to a digital solution.

The certificate of entitlement is the mechanism the UK government envisioned for this situation. It is expensive, but with the digital solution, it should be a one-time expense that can then be linked to any foreign passport your daughter holds now or in the future.

https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode/apply-for-a-certificate-of-entitlement?ref=ed_direct

And finally, yes, you could apply for a UK ETA for her. This is NOT a legal solution; she's not actually eligible for one, since she is a British citizen. But since the UK government does not (by OP's statement) have a record of that fact or any way to discover it during the UK ETA application, it will probably work. It may create some paperwork problems in the future, like creating an immigration record for a UK citizen exempt from immigration control, but it is highly unlikely she'd be refused entry.

AussieaussieKman@reddit

Like someone else commented once your at the immigration they cant refuse you entry because your a British citizen because thats ironic. Getting on the plane is the issue and as far as i know they have zero ways of telling if your a dual citizen.

norgelurker@reddit

dual*

No_Struggle_8184@reddit

The airline will only care that she has a valid ETA. UK immigration will either admit her as a Canadian visitor or deduce she’s a British citizen in which case they can’t refuse her entry. Either way she’s getting in.

That being said, you have plenty of time to obtain her British passport. Your documents will be couriered back to you so there’s probably less chance of them going missing these days than sending them from within the UK as they’ll be returned by Royal Mail.

hkpriv@reddit

tbh i've had to deal with similar tax issues when buying property abroad and it got pretty hairy - i ended up paying way more in stamp duty than i expected because of a tiny clause that said i had to pay it upfront. has anyone else found themselves in this situation?

Fun-Injury9266@reddit

Get UK passports for the kids today. What bit of "your kids are now required to enter the UK on UK passports" is ambiguous?

delightful_caprese@reddit

Just for future reference, it’s “dual”. Unless there’s a conflict between the UK and Canada that I don’t know about, in which case a duel is naturally in the cards.

jamin589@reddit (OP)

Ha! Important clarification. I should start referring to myself as a dueling citizen.