Wintersong

No, the UK doesn't have the same rules. If you're just there for a short visit, it really doesn't make much difference which passport you use to enter.

Personally, I only use my UK passport to enter the UK. I leave the UK on my US passport, since that's the information that I have to provide to the airline, to justify the fact that I'm remaining in the US. Obviously I leave and re-enter the US with my US passport.

Wintersong

Worth noting that UK citizens have the right of abode within the UK. RoA means that you do NOT need to obtain the permission of an immigration officer to enter the UK.

You do, however, have to prove that you have the right of abode which, in effect, means you need a UK passport, or a certificate of entitlement in your foreign passport.

If you don't have either of those, you have the same rights as any other citizen from the country whose passport you are holding.

Pulaski

Britain does not have the same restriction. Many of us BEers, including me, have visited the UK using our US passports.

penguinsix

All US citizens entering by air MUST have a passport. A birth certificate is not sufficient.

Children under 15 entering by land or sea from a contiguous territory can use a birth certificate though.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...y-into-the-u.s.

lululondon

Yes Wintersong and Pulaski, I see that the UK has different rules (and different more or less everything of course!), it's an interesting comparison to entry experiences though...! So friendly and sort of flexible attitude in the UK border crossing compared with the US. But then maybe I'm just biased...

Penguinsix, yes, we weren't considering bringing in our daughter without a passport. It was a question of whether she could come in just using her current British passport along with a very recently (last week) expired US passport (birth certificate only mentioned as proof of citizenship and identity). BUt all resolved now (hopefully) as heading to the DC passport office bright and early tomorrow morning to get officially renewed!

penguinsix

Sounds good.

By the way there are passport 'expeditor' services in DC you can pay to wait in line and sort out the passport, if you are too busy to trudge down there yourself. Of course it costs a bit, but time is money sometimes.

Bob

That's what we did over the summer with the kids heading into/out of Canada.

No issues getting into Canada, but a bit of a pain in the balls heading back into the US as the chap stumbled off for a while to check on the birth certificates. One kid has a nice fancy one from when we lived in another town, the youngest, it looked like it was printed at home with a naff stamp but our town doesn't do fancy certificates.

lululondon

OP here...update and finale to the finagling.... this very day I trudged, I went, I queued like a good Brit with the Great Unwashed of the metropolitan Washington DC area and....I came home with a renewed passport in hand the same day

I got there nice and early, we went through security just like at the airport and mostly everyone was very nice and friendly and helpful. A few dicey bits but they finally admitted that since Monday was a holiday and we are travelling Wed morning it was probably a good idea to get the thing done today. I sent kiddo back to school with the husband, who had to take time off work to shuttle us all 4 down there (kiddo obv had to appear in person) and I hung about DC (brrr) for the 5 or so hours it took for the passport elves in the basement to whittle up a new blue book. Left with it in hand at 2.30 (they close at 3pm...bit like a 1970s Co-op) and metro'd home.

So thank you everyone, with a little help from your suggestions, we will be entering back into the US post hols legally and hopefully sans fuss!