graham1710

How weird!

What was their complaint/issue? Just upset that you're a citizen but using another passport? Why would they care?

My wife will be heading over soon, and it'll have to be her Canadian passport as she waits for her new British passport. She's taking one of our kids, who does have an active British passport and a Canadian one.

graham1710

Thanks! Will definitely avoid ever leaving it that long, if we do ever let it lapse for a while.

graham1710

That's a good point. I guess I don't ever really think of needing consular assistance in a foreign country. But the time you need it (much like the first time I ever had to actually use travel insurance due to a surgery when abroad) is when you'll likely appreciate having the option of two to make sure you get the best help!

Twitcher1958

I suspect that was a while ago because now you can go through the automated line with a Canadian passport, whereas at one time they only accepted UK ones. Having said that, I think there’s an age limit on their use, so your child may not be eligible to use. But one would think they’d fully understand the issues there have been with passport renewals.

Jerseygirl

If you enter with a UK PP, you are entered as a UK citizen. If you enter using a foreign PP, you are entered as a visitor.

graham1710

Makes sense.

Does that ultimately make a difference, providing the trip isn't longer than 6 months? Given she'll have to enter as a visitor this time, should she use my son's Canadian passport and so enter him as a visitor, or does it not really matter?

Thanks!

Jerseygirl

If it’s longer than the duration of a visitor’s entry, I believe you should apply to adjust status. Whether people actually do that I don’t know…I doubt it.

graham1710

Sorry, I'm not totally following and I'm probably confusing things lol.

For this trip back to Scotland, her British passport is expired and she'll therefore have to use her Canadian one to enter the UK. One of our son's that she's taking with her has both a Canadian and British passport that are active for a few more years. She will be renewing her British passport, but that isn't really relevant to the trip since it's currently expired.

She's only going for a week for this trip. So she'll need to enter on her Canadian passport, which presumably won't be a problem. Should she even mention she's British (if she can't use the automatic gates due to my son being only 2)? I'm just wondering whether she should use our son's British passport for him, or just have both of them use their Canadian passport, or if it really doesn't matter which one he uses?

Thanks :-)

Jerseygirl

She will enter with the rest of the family, using her CDN PP If anything is said be truthful and say it has expired. I am sure it will not be a problem.

graham1710

Thanks!

I guess I'm just confused why there would be any reason for it to be a problem anyway? Both in this case and the previous poster who had some hassle. Unless this UK ETA (when it comes in) requires that we need the British passport like the Canadian one requires us to have our Canadian passport, there doesn't appear to be any requirement that a British citizen enters on a British passport, does there? Surely we can enter on any valid passport in the same way as a visitor does?

I'm not worried, just interested :-) And yep, would always be truthful for sure!

Thanks!

Pollyana

I don't see why there should be any unpleasantness etc. If a person entering does not tell the Immigration officer that they hold an expired British passport, that official will be none the wiser
There is currently no requirement to hold a valid British passport, regardless of whether you live in the UK or elsewhere.
When entering the UK, you need a valid passport (and visa if applicable) that allows you to enter, That passport does not have to be a British one.

Jerseygirl

Very true. It can be confusing because Canadian citizens must leave and enter Canada using Canadian PP.

Plus bats mentioned in her post above, that a UK Imm. Officer had given her grief for not having a UK PP. Perhaps he had an argument with his wife before he left home.

CanadaJimmy

When I visited the UK on my Canadian passport, I went through the non-EU line at the airport, and just let my wife do all the talking with her Canadian accent, no issues. It does say my UK birthplace on my Canadian passport though, but I figured if that ever came up I would just say yes I was born in the UK but have no ties there besides family members who still live in the UK and I consider myself fully Canadian. Hopefully that whole UK ETA thing won't require me to get a UK passport for future visits, that is concerning as I really don't want the whole hassle of dealing with that.

graham1710

Thanks all!

Expatrian

It appears there’s no change to the UK’s policy, once ETA is rolled out, of not requiring British citizens to enter on a UK passport (they currently “recommend” it IF you hold a valid UK passport, but it’s not required):

https://www.etauk.uk/requirements/

Dual nationals and those with multiple passports must enter the UK with the same document used during the registration process for the Electronic Travel Authorisation. Arriving in Britain with a different passport to the one electronically connected to an ETA will invalidate the visa waiver.