The UK’s new border control system ETA reaches a new phase in February – but will British dual nationals really be denied entry to the country if they do not have a valid UK passport?
Ahead of the end of the ‘tolerance period’ of the Electronic Travel Authorisation system in February 2026, British dual nationals have been targeted with official messaging suggesting that they will only be able to enter the UK if they have a valid British passport or a certificate of entitlement (see below).
READ ALSO: Explained: The UK’s £16 ETA travel permit✎
Is this really the case? Will those British dual-nationals, who simply haven’t renewed their old passport or never had one and choose to travel on their “other” passport, be refused entry?
On closer inspection, the situation appears to be not quite so simple.
What changes
Although ETA has been up and running since 2023, and has applied to all EU nationals since spring 2025, there has been a ‘tolerance period’ in operation where people were not turned away at the border if they did not have the correct ETA registration.
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February 25th, 2026, marks the end of the tolerance period for EU/EEA citizens travelling to the UK, and those without the correct paperwork will be turned away at the border, according to British authorities.
Importantly, the UK government has also stated that British dual nationals will be subject to this crackdown.
What’s the deal for British dual nationals?
Ever since the launch of ETA, there has been confusion and mixed messages when it comes to British dual nationals.
READ ALSO: ‘Absolute shambles’: Confusion deepens over ETA visa waiver for UK dual nationals
For British or Irish nationals travelling on their UK or Irish passport the situation is clear – they do not require the electronic travel authorisation known as the ETA.
However, many British dual nationals do not have a current, valid British passport – either because it has expired, is in the process of being renewed or because they have never had one. These people have always previously had the option of simply using their other passport to enter the UK.
However, the website and app used to apply for the ETA demands that people list any other nationalities they posses – but does not allow applicants to selected ‘British’ as another nationality – meaning that dual nationals cannot truthfully complete the ETA application and travel on their other passport. They would be at risk of being accused of making a false declaration.
What’s the official advice?
Part of the problem is that the official line from the British government has changed several times, meanwhile some British government bodies – such as embassies in Europe – are giving different information to the UK’s Home Office.
The UK government’s ETA ‘fact-sheet’ for dual nationals has had several changes of wording since the launch of the scheme in 2023.
On January 15th 2026, it read: “We strongly advise dual British citizens to make sure they have a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement, to avoid problems like being denied boarding when travelling to the UK from 25 February 2026.”
It’s apparently not enough simply to have it, you must also be travelling with it as the guidance goes on to state: “From 25 February 2026, dual British citizens who cannot produce a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement will need to have additional identity checks and will not be able to go through UK passport control until their British nationality is verified.”
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But being ‘advised’ is not the same as a passport being compulsory, so we asked the Home Office for clarification.
Their first response said: “All dual British citizens will need to present either a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement to avoid delays at the border.”
When we asked them to clarify what they meant by delays, they said: “The UK government strongly advises dual British citizens to make sure they have a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement, to avoid problems like being denied boarding when travelling to the UK from 25 February 2026.”
We have pointed out that being denied boarding is a very different thing to possible delays or extra document checks at the border, and are awaiting a response on this point.
What’s the law?
Some countries – the USA is one – state as law that dual nationals must use their US passport to enter America.
This means that American dual nationals must ensure that their US passport is up to date if they want to travel back home.
British law, however, makes no such demand – in fact a House of Commons briefing note on this topic acknowledges the fact that there is no legal requirement for British citizens to travel on a British passport – but added that pre-departure checks for travellers make it difficult to travel to the UK without one.
This may explain the vagueness of the language – the UK Home Office cannot legally tell Brits that they must travel on their British passport.
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So get a British passport?
Many dual-national Brits have said the system just seems to be set up to pressurise them to pay out €124 (£108) for a UK passport.
For some people this will pose no problem, and others might be willing to pay the money to avoid travel hassles.
However plenty of British dual nationals keep only one passport – for reasons of either practicality or finance – while some have never had a British passport.
This last category includes many children born abroad to one British parent. These children are automatically British due to their parental link, but many have never been registered with British authorities and have only ever had the passport of their country of residence.
Parents, who may not have thought their kids were British, now face having to get a them a passport, if they want to take heed of the government warnings.
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Who does the British government consider a dual national?
The Home Office told us: “Dual national British citizens include: British-born people who have acquired another country’s nationality; people who naturalised or registered as British later in life; and people who have been dual nationals since birth.”
This would therefore seem to include people who have never had a British passport, but qualify for British citizenship through a parental link.
What’s this about a Certificate of Entitlement?
The Home Office breezily states that: “As an alternative to travelling with a valid British passport, British dual citizens can evidence their citizenship in another passport by obtaining a certificate of entitlement on GOV.UK.”
Be warned, although it is possible to make the initial application for the Certificate of Entitlement via the government’s Gov.uk website, the process involves an in-person visit to a consulate or visa centre in your country of residence.
This might be hundreds of kilometres from where you live – for example in France residents would need to travel to the visa centre in Paris.
The documents takes an estimated 6-8 weeks to be processed and costs €634 (£550).
Use other passport
The obvious question is ‘why can’t dual nationals simply travel on their other passport and complete ETA registration?’.
Dual nationals travelling on their other passport would have to complete the ETA registration and pay the €19 fee.
However, one of the questions asked by the app is whether travellers have any other nationalities – and there is no option to select for UK nationals (options listed include British Citizen (Overseas) or British Subject; citizenship status that apply only to small groups of people such as those born in Hong Kong).
This therefore blocks British dual nationals from being able to complete the ETA – unless they ignore this question and simply fail to declare their British nationality. As we said above, they then face being accused of making a false declaration.
Several readers of The Local told us they have taken this option and simply travelled on their other passport, or got ETAs for their dual-national children and so far at least, have encountered no problems.
But this may all change from February 25th.
Are you a dual-national Briton without a British passport and face being barred from travel to the UK? Please share your views and experience in the comments section below.
