Obligatory to use only your UK passport when entering the UK?

[stevensfo]

I was recently informed by a colleague that even if you have two or more passports, you are legally obliged to use only your UK passport when entering the UK.

This is the first time I have ever heard this, and I don't believe it to be true.

It is an official form of I.D. and in my experience, you can you use whichever passport you like, as long as it's valid.

Obviously if it's not from the European area, then you may be asked a few questions, but there's usually no problem.

Has the law changed recently?


Steve

[Newroad]

Hi Stevensfo.

I know it used to be true for Australia (and Australian passports) so checked. Here is the latest from there, including some of the considerations which would equally apply in your scenario

https://www.passports.gov.au/news/dual-nationals-leaving-and-returning-australia-which-passport-should-you-use#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20the%20Department%20of%20Home%20Affairs%E2%80%99%20advice,issues%20returning%20to%20Australia%20on%20a%20foreign%20passport.

Here is the UK broad equivalent

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-09-03/41847#:~:text=We%20recommend%20all%20dual%20nationals%2C%20including%20EU%20citizens%2C,at%20the%20border%20or%20when%20commencing%20their%20journey.

My guess is that it would be wise to enter a country using its own passport if you have it, but that any valid passport is theoretically OK.

Regards, Newroad

[Lootman]

No, it is not mandatory but it is advised. I have been told that by three border guards at Heathrow. It is also quicker and less likely to trigger a stop, so I think you should do it.

It is a crime to enter the US with a foreign passport if you have a US passport however. That rule was implemented after 9/11 and you would not want to break it.

[JonE]

Has the law changed recently?

I've no knowledge of a change in law but when I re-checked the gov.uk guidance in (I think) late-2018 it was absolutely and very specifically clear that holders of a UK passport and a EU passport should travel between the two countries involved using the EU passport. I checked again within the past year and the relevant pages have changed such that this guidance is no longer provided. As it happens I now travel between the two solely on my EU passport as that means I don't have to bother with providing proof of permanent residence to stay longer in the EU country than 90 days.

In the special case of one of your non-UK passports having been isssued by Ireland then you'll already know that you'll have no problems entering UK on that anyway.

Cheers!

[Lootman]

holders of a UK passport and a EU passport should travel between the two countries involved using the EU passport. I checked again within the past year and the relevant pages have changed such that this guidance is no longer provided. As it happens I now travel between the two solely on my EU passport as that means I don't have to bother with providing proof of permanent residence to stay longer in the EU country than 90 days.

Note however that you can also mix and match passports, as it were. So for example you can leave the UK on your UK passport and then enter the EU with your EU passport.

Then you leave the EU showing your EU passport and show your UK passport at Heathrow.

The one catch with that idea is that for the US you have to provide your passport information before you fly. Obviously you would then show that same passport at all stages of your journey there. Coming home you can still enter the UK with your UK passport, and should do so. It does not matter that you used your other passport at every other stage of the trip. The e-gates at Heathrow do not know or care where you went nor what passport you used nor that you did not leave the UK using your UK passport.

[didds]

as above for "ease" it probably makes sense to enter the UK with a UK passport.

But ultimately - how would they know, especially if your name was a reasonably likely common one?

Even my name, which is probably very uncommon, is shared by at least one other person in the UK that I am aware of (poor bugger!). Ditto my brother.

[richfool]

When my spouse was going through the process of obtaining British citizenship and a British passport, I remember reading, (somewhere in the Home office/passport office documentation), that she should use her British passport whenever leaving or entering the UK, (even if she had another nationality/passport).

[Hallucigenia]

But ultimately - how would they know, especially if your name was a reasonably likely common one?

Do you not think they might have considered that?

I'm pretty certain that when my missus got her UK citizenship, she had to declare the number of any other passports she had, so that if she did come in on her original one it would be linked to her UK one.

[didds]

what I meant was if you entered the UK and your name was John Smith, and you used your non-UK passport, how would immigration know you had a UK passport that you "should have used" ?

WRT the situation of Hallucegenia's missus what if it was the otherway around? That John Smith originally had a UK passport, but later then attained a passport for country X. Is there something requiring such situations to be advised to <some UK department> ? And if so, and it wasn't advised - how would they know?

[Lootman]

But ultimately - how would they know, especially if your name was a reasonably likely common one?

Do you not think they might have considered that?

I'm pretty certain that when my missus got her UK citizenship, she had to declare the number of any other passports she had, so that if she did come in on her original one it would be linked to her UK one.

But the longer ago that UK passport was issued, the less reliable that "other passports record" becomes. The UK would have no idea after that initial issuance what other foreign passports your wife has applied for. Similarly I doubt that the UK knows if a UK passport holder gets a foreign passport as well.

To didds' other point, although you are advised to enter the UK with your UK passport if you have one, I am not aware of any rule or preference about what passport to use when leaving the UK. For consistency I might use the same passport that the airline knows about and/or the passport that I am intending to show when arriving at my destination. In general outgoing passport checks are cursory compared to inbound passport checks.

[richfool]

Note that an individual entering the UK on a foreign country passport may well require a visa to enter the UK.

[9873210]

For consistency I might use the same passport that the airline knows about and/or the passport that I am intending to show when arriving at my destination. In general outgoing passport checks are cursory compared to inbound passport checks.

There may be a contradiction here about what the airline knows. For a US/UK dual national you usually only have to show the US passport when leaving the US. In general, the only way the airline could know about the UK passport would be a database lookup by/at the US or UK authorities.

The airline needs to know that you are legally in the US (because of US immigration law) and that you are legally entitled to enter the UK (or the airline gets fined by the UK). This would usually require the US passport, because the UK passport would have no stamp or visa showing legal entry to the US and because the UK does not require a visa. If you show the airline the UK passport they ask for the US visa or whatever they call the visa waiver paper/entry in immigration's database.

This may be different at different border crossings (e.g. the US/Canada land border) or if a visa is required for the country pair involved.

A related question is if a dual national enters the UK on foreign passport would they be treated as anything other than a UK national?

[9873210]

Has the law changed recently?

I've no knowledge of a change in law but when I re-checked the gov.uk guidance in (I think) late-2018 it was absolutely and very specifically clear that holders of a UK passport and a EU passport should travel between the two countries involved using the EU passport.

Cheers!

This makes no sense. In 2018 a UK passport was an EU passport. Much earlier in 1980 or so I would always us my UK passport in the EU passport line at Heathrow with no problem. When I arrived at Heathrow the UK Only passport lines were usually much longer than the EU passport lines.

[Lootman]

I've no knowledge of a change in law but when I re-checked the gov.uk guidance in (I think) late-2018 it was absolutely and very specifically clear that holders of a UK passport and a EU passport should travel between the two countries involved using the EU passport.

This makes no sense. In 2018 a UK passport was an EU passport. Much earlier in 1980 or so I would always us my UK passport in the EU passport line at Heathrow with no problem. When I arrived at Heathrow the UK Only passport lines were usually much longer than the EU passport lines.

It is a bit different now due to recent changes, at least at Heathrow.

The e-gates are now used for UK, EU, North American and Developed Asia (e.g. Oz, NZ, Singapore) passports. Others are processed manually.

So there is no real fast-track for UK passports any more.

The e-gates are very slick when they work, taking just seconds and with no human interaction. But they reject a certain percentage, presumably due to a biometric mismatch. something odd about your passport or you being on some list of undesirables.

[JonE]

I've no knowledge of a change in law but when I re-checked the gov.uk guidance in (I think) late-2018 ...

This makes no sense. In 2018 a UK passport was an EU passport.

Ah, my guess of 2018 was obviously wrong - and, now you point it out, there would have been no reason at that time for me to check what the guidance may have been. I suppose it must have been much later - perhaps mid/late '21 which was the next time I'd planned a trip to UK (but, again, that's a bit of a guess).

Cheers!

[stevensfo]

This makes no sense. In 2018 a UK passport was an EU passport. Much earlier in 1980 or so I would always us my UK passport in the EU passport line at Heathrow with no problem. When I arrived at Heathrow the UK Only passport lines were usually much longer than the EU passport lines.

It is a bit different now due to recent changes, at least at Heathrow.

The e-gates are now used for UK, EU, North American and Developed Asia (e.g. Oz, NZ, Singapore) passports. Others are processed manually.

So there is no real fast-track for UK passports any more.

The e-gates are very slick when they work, taking just seconds and with no human interaction. But they reject a certain percentage, presumably due to a biometric mismatch. something odd about your passport or you being on some list of undesirables.

Our youngest had his rejected last year at Luton. I thought that maybe they'd keep him in a few days for interrogation, but no such luck. His passport was close to 10 years and the photo didn't match the face recognition data at the e-gate.

My question asking if, while possessing both UK and EU passports, if it's obligatory to use the UK passport, was simply due to a rather aggressive and forthright individual on a Facebook forum who claimed that it IS obligatory, but that airport staff don't know or enforce the law.

Yes, I know that the USA is ultra strict about these things, but that would be news to me if the UK had the same law.

Steve

[BigB]

Do you not think they might have considered that?

I'm pretty certain that when my missus got her UK citizenship, she had to declare the number of any other passports she had, so that if she did come in on her original one it would be linked to her UK one.

But the longer ago that UK passport was issued, the less reliable that "other passports record" becomes. The UK would have no idea after that initial issuance what other foreign passports your wife has applied for. Similarly I doubt that the UK knows if a UK passport holder gets a foreign passport as well.

To didds' other point, although you are advised to enter the UK with your UK passport if you have one, I am not aware of any rule or preference about what passport to use when leaving the UK. For consistency I might use the same passport that the airline knows about and/or the passport that I am intending to show when arriving at my destination. In general outgoing passport checks are cursory compared to inbound passport checks.

I renewed my UK passport last year and had to submit extensive details of other passports held, in my case Irish (EU and CTA, but not Schengen). When I had got my Irish passport a couple of years ago I'd had to submit full details of my UK one. So the renewal cycles of <=10 years would keep these things slowly aligned, but I suspect countries and possibly airlines share data like this already for security purposes, so I imagine multi-passported individuals are often known to border forces with a range of ids.

When you apply for a renewal of a passport, or for a new one for another country, and you're explicitly asked about other countries' passports, the perceived risk of being denied one and going on some dodgy international interpol list is enough to deter people like me from not fully disclosing!

When entering/exiting EU I use the same passport - 18 months ago I entered Oslo with IE passport due to shorter queue (taking my wife with me on her UK passport) but then left on UK one a few days later (forgetful and the queue was the same one), and the border guard identified the entry gap in the passport.

Returning to UK via Heathrow I can use IE passport and the e-gates throw no issue - curious if that's just as it's CTA or if EU passports also get a free/quick entry without stamp.

Driving via Eurotunnel I use the UK one as that is what they are prepared for and it's quicker than explaining a mix of EU and UK passports in the car.

[didds]

I renewed my UK passport last year and had to submit extensive details of other passports held, in my case Irish (EU and CTA, but not Schengen). When I had got my Irish passport a couple of years ago I'd had to submit full details of my UK one. So the renewal cycles of <=10 years would keep these things slowly aligned, but I suspect countries and possibly airlines share data like this already for security purposes, so I imagine multi-passported individuals are often known to border forces with a range of ids.

and as before... how would "they" ever know if you didn't ? (this is really a moot query rather than a suggestion )

The whole thing really resolves around one being transparent - and I'm sure everybody here would be. But we aren't naïve enough to understand there sure some demographics who would profit form such obfuscation, so what is really in place in reality aside from asking the passport applicant a question which can be answered with an economical truth...

And if those systems are in place to catch those being economical with the truth/forgetful, then why ask the question in the first place ?

??