British dual nationals in Europe have been describing their anger and stress over misleading, vague and constantly changing information from the UK government on the subject of the new ETA travel visa requirements.
It’s more than a week since the UK’s new ETA travel visa waiver was rolled out to European nationals – and over a month since the system was first opened for applications from EU/EFTA citizens.
But many of the thousands of dual national Brits living in Europe say the British government has still failed to provide clear and consistent advice on the rules for them.
The Electronic Travel Authorisation – a visa waiver that must be applied for online in advance of travel – was extended to European travellers on April 2nd (applications opened March 5th) and now anyone entering the UK as a visitor is required to have one, with the exception of people travelling on a UK or Irish passport or people who have a visa/residency status in the UK.
The situation for British dual nationals, however, is far from clear – and has been made more confusing by the British government providing them vague and frequently changing advice and instructions.
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This has left many dual nationals angry and understandably stressed about travelling to the UK in the coming weeks.
“This situation is a disgrace. The British Government clearly still regards us as ‘Citizens of Nowhere’,” said one frustrated Briton on a British Embassy Facebook page.
READ ALSO: ‘Absolute shambles’ – Confusion deepens over ETA visa waiver for UK dual nationals
For dual nationals using their UK or Irish passport the situation is clear – they don’t need an ETA.
But the cause of the issue is that those UK nationals who choose to travel on their other passport – either for convenience, because their UK passport has expired or because they have never had one – are unable to get an ETA – unless they don’t declare they have British nationality in the application process.
In other words if they don’t tell the truth when applying for one.
Many readers tell us they have done this, whilst others have preferred to apply for UK passports.
Others simply want a clear answer and have directed their anger at the Home Office and British Embassies for the changing and unclear advice. Embassy pages have been inundated with frustrated comments.
Catherine Day lives in Belgium and – in a common scenario for Brits living abroad – has children who are British dual nationals, but who don’t have UK passports. She said: “The British Embassy in Paris completely changed their advice for dual nationals on their Facebook page.
“I had decided to wait to get a UK passport for my daughter as it seemed easier to go down the ETA route. Do I now need to rush through a passport application (which will take longer as it is her first)? We travel in May and I still can’t get any information.”
The latest Home Office information states: “In the current transition period, we do not expect carriers to deny boarding to passengers who cannot produce a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement.” Although there was no mention of what happens if carriers do deny someone boarding or whether travellers would need to prove they are British. It is also unclear when this “transition period” might end.
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As one British dual national Facebook commenter pointed out: “Expect is a very weak word with big consequences for us if they unexpectedly don’t let us travel.”
The Home Office is also telling UK dual nationals that in future they’ll need to ensure they have a valid UK passport or alternatively a “£550 certificate of entitlement” in order to avoid “difficulties at the point of boarding or at the UK border”.
There was particular anger over the suggestion that British dual nationals would need a Certificate of Entitlement, and the cost of that document.
The most commonly used words about that were “scam”, “rip-off” and “outrageous”.
Sharon Aissa, who lives in France, said: “The certificate of entitlement is over £500. Both my daughters have dual nationality but only a French passport. So they will not be able to enter their own country unless they now pay for a UK passport.”
A reminder that renewing a UK passport from overseas now costs £108 (after rising from £101 on April 10th).
Getting either a passport or a Certificate of Entitlement can take several weeks and in the case of the certificate it can involve an in-person visit to a visa processing centre. The certificate can only be given to those who don’t have a valid UK passport.
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James Barišić said: “This whole thing is a mess that makes it harder for UK citizens to enter their own country – and the British Embassy ignoring messages from us for over a month has exacerbated that.
“To be clear, their statement that ‘In the future, all dual British citizens will need to present either a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement to avoid delays at the border’ – is legally incorrect and is, inter alia, a breach of the Good Friday Agreement.
“This is a complete mess – exacerbated by incompetent messaging from the Embassy.”
Garry Jones, a British national who has been living in Sweden since 1988 and doesn’t have a British passport told The Local: “We need someone responsible at the Home Office or at one of the 86 British Embassies in the ETA countries to take decisive action.
“If it is okay for us to bypass the dual national declaration and obtain the ETA under false pretences then they should say so. Otherwise they should add the GBR category to the app. Or tell us what do to.”
With the Easter holidays starting, many Brits living in Europe had plans to visit friends or family in the UK, and find themselves either scrambling to get a UK passport or worrying about being stopped at the border.
The UK’s own census data reveals that there are more than 500,000 people living in the UK who have British nationality plus the nationality of at least one other country – but this data does not include Brits living abroad who have gained the nationality of the country they live in.
In March The Local reported how around 120,000 Britons had gained nationality of a European country since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
This is not to mention the children born to Brits living abroad. They gain British citizenship automatically through their parents, but frequently also have citizenship of the country they live in, or the citizenship of their other parent. Many though don’t have British passports.
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