United Kingdom: Relaxations Under ETA Scheme for British Dual Nationals

The United Kingdom has announced the following relaxed rules for British dual nationals under the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme:  

• First, dual British citizens, who would regularly be expected to present either a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement (CoE) for travel to the United Kingdom to demonstrate exemption from the ETA program, are temporarily allowed –  subject to the air carrier’s discretion – to instead present an expired UK passport (issued 1989 or later) along with a valid non-visa national third country passport. Biographic details and appearances must match.  
• Second, the United Kingdom now allows dual British citizens who secured their British nationality after settling in the United Kingdom via the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to travel to the United Kingdom with their non-UK nationality documentation – either a passport or (if the affected individual is a national of a Member State of the European Union, or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland) a national identity card. Previously, under the ETA scheme, it was only possible for such individuals to travel to the United Kingdom with UK nationality documentation (whether a UK passport or CoE). The EUSS is a UK immigration program established after Brexit to allow nationals of EU Member States or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland (and their family members) to secure their rights to continue to live in the United Kingdom.  
  

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.