Kedgeree

Friends of ours have got themselves in a bit of a pickle. Their kids have ILR though their BRPs have just expired. On Monday, they're all flying back to Asia for the summer holidays, and are wondering how they'll get back in to the UK in late August.

They realized about the expired BRPs a few weeks ago, and decided to go straight for getting the kids' UK passports. To do so, they first needed to register the kids' citizenship, which they've done, but the documents will only come through in a few days' time, after the family flies to Asia. Also, of course they'd still need to apply for the passports — minimum 1 week.

My advice was to postpone the flight and get all this sorted out first. They can't really afford to change the flight though. So, any thoughts on their best chance to get back in?

• Enter as visitors on their Hong Kong passports? Seems risky to me… the ILR and previous BRPs will show up, and questions will be asked as to why they're not doing things correctly.
• Try to renew BRPs from abroad?
• Husband stays here to apply for kids' UK passports then send the passports over?

Thanks for any constructive suggestions (I think the point that they should have sorted it all out beforehand has already been made…)

BritInParis

Renewing their BRPs is a non-starter if they have now been registered as British citizens. Without their registration certificates they won't be able to apply for British passports from abroad.

What passport(s) do the parents hold?

Kedgeree

Hong Kong passports, but apparently not British Overseas ones. Anyway, thank you for the tip on the futility of trying to renew the BRPs. That makes sense. One way or another they'll need to get the UK passports sorted out I think. I've passed the message on.

BritInParis

Their two choices are either to delay the trip until they can get British passports for the children or to travel on their Hong Kong passports and expect a grilling at the border.