thebardies

I am having nightmares.. my husband, i and our two daughters are flying to the UK for the first time since moving here. My husband, i and our oldest daughter are all travelling on UK passports with permanent resident Australian visas in them. My 18 month old only has an Australian passport with no visa inside. i keep dreaming she is forced to stand in the "foreign nationals" queue in the british airport. Please can someone give me some reassurance that there is nothing i have forgotten to do i.e. visa for my youngest? has anyone else been in this situation?

Thanks from a tired and worried mum

Call me AL

I knew a family in exactly the same position and when they tried to go through passport control, social services came and took the child away and fostered it out. True.

Pollyana

She can go in the same queue as you, and Australian passport holders can visit the Uk without a visa (unless they are looking to work etc which i guess she won't be!!!)

Bermudashorts

Err no she won't have to join the other queue by herself?

She also does not need a visa for the UK.

Keep her with you and you and she will be fine in the queue for Brits.

The Squire of Onchan

Is Guantanamo Bay still operating ...

chris1386

baaaad man

thebardies

Ah cool. She is a bit of a handful at the minute so thats the babysitting sorted out while we are over!!

migrantoz

On a slightly different angle...

I am a British passport holder and an Australian passport holder. I am going to travel back to the UK next year and was planning to just use my Australian passport to enter and leave the UK. Other than getting in a different queue at passport control are there any possible complications if immigration officials know that I am British but entering the UK on an Australian passport?

hoofie2002

Why would you enter the UK on an Australian passport if you have a UK one - is it expired ?? I wouldn't imagine there would be any problem as you are an Australian citizen also but if your UK passport has not expired they might be curious as to why you are not travelling on it [which could mean all sorts of things]

Centurion

I purely use and take my Australian passport because :

1. The queue at Other Passports as opposed to EU passports is usually shorter thanks to there being more immigration staff working on those desks.
2. If you fly a premium class you can use the priority lane at LHR.
3. I feel more confident in my ability to be repatriated to Australia and receive more assistance in the event of civil unrest/disaster as an Australian citizen.
4. Traveling on one passport avoids potential confusion with airlines and security etc.

You will be asked for the reason for your visit, holiday or visiting family etc and your return date and issued with a 6 month visa on the spot. Say it with your best British accent and nobody will bat an eyelid. You will not be the first person who has left the shores of blighty and now holds a different passport.

As a technical point you should enter the UK under a UK passport and Australia under your AU passport. But I've never been a technical person and the above always works for me.

Pollyana

Nope. Unlike Australia, which asks that you enter and leave on your Aussie passport, the UK doesn't have a rule about it. No problem at all on entering on your Aussie one if you want to, they are highly unlikely to ask if you have a British one as well, and even it they do, it doesn't matter that you aren't using it.

Family of 3

Our son was adopted and before his British passport was through we ALWAYS took him in the British queue with us. It was never a problem, even before the adoption was legalised and he had another name.

On one occasion (when he had the same name but different passport) the Immigration Officer said "Is this your son?" I said "Yes" and went rooting for the adoption papers, and he just said "That's good enough for me, welcome home". It was really nice.

sassie

As others have said your 18 month old is fine to travel on his/her Australian passport - no visa is requred. All family members travelling together irrespective of their passport/visa status can join the same queue in immigration. have a good trip

keel

We had to return to the UK suddenly 4 years ago for a family funeral. We had a 3 year old with a British passport and a one year old with an Australian passport. We were told by the nice immigration lady that we had to use the foreigners que due to the baby's passport.

We stood in that que whilst the entire united nations trooped past us with British passports, it took abour 30 minutes. We could hardly hear a British voice amoungst them. You can immagine how pissed off I was first me Mam had died then I was treat as a foreigner.

And this was Newcastle!!!

Keel

Satch_Boogie

It depends on which airport and the mood of the immigration officer unfortunately. Before my wife and oldest got their British passports, they traveled on their US ones. Even though we have two additional children with British passports plus me, there were many times they were forced to go through the non-EU line. Sometimes they took pity on us as a family and let us go through the EU line together.