Travel agents in Australia have reported a spike in trip cancellations after a little-noticed Home Office reminder on 18 January clarified that dual British/Irish citizens must hold and present a UK or Irish passport—or a Certificate of Entitlement—when airlines conduct pre-departure checks from 25 February 2026. Carriers will face fines if they board dual nationals on a third-country passport alone.
The rule is not new—‘right-of-abode’ documentation has long been required—but the advent of mandatory Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) for visa-free travellers forces airlines to verify status earlier in the journey. Families accustomed to using only their Australian passports are discovering that the ETA app rejects them as ‘British citizens’ and offers no override.
For travellers now racing the clock, VisaHQ offers a streamlined passport-renewal and Certificate of Entitlement handling service—complete with application reviews, courier pick-ups and real-time status alerts—so dual citizens can meet the new airline checks without derailing travel plans. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/.
![Dual-Citizen Rule Change Sparks Confusion Ahead of UK ETA Enforcement]()
Corporate-mobility providers fear last-minute surprises for assignees whose UK passports have expired. Obtaining a renewal from Sydney currently takes up to eight weeks, and Express services require an in-person appearance in London. The British High Commission in Canberra says it processed a record 2,700 overseas passport applications in the first two weeks of January—nearly triple last year’s figure.
Airlines are updating check-in system prompts, but industry body BARA warns staff training may lag. Employers should audit traveller profiles to flag dual nationals, ensure valid UK documents are on file, or budget for courier upgrades. Failure to do so could strand key personnel at departure gates and trigger costly project delays.
The episode underscores a broader communication challenge as the UK moves toward a fully digital border: rules that were once enforced at immigration desks now bite at the airline counter, shifting both risk and responsibility onto travellers and their employers.
The rule is not new—‘right-of-abode’ documentation has long been required—but the advent of mandatory Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) for visa-free travellers forces airlines to verify status earlier in the journey. Families accustomed to using only their Australian passports are discovering that the ETA app rejects them as ‘British citizens’ and offers no override.
For travellers now racing the clock, VisaHQ offers a streamlined passport-renewal and Certificate of Entitlement handling service—complete with application reviews, courier pick-ups and real-time status alerts—so dual citizens can meet the new airline checks without derailing travel plans. More information is available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/.
Corporate-mobility providers fear last-minute surprises for assignees whose UK passports have expired. Obtaining a renewal from Sydney currently takes up to eight weeks, and Express services require an in-person appearance in London. The British High Commission in Canberra says it processed a record 2,700 overseas passport applications in the first two weeks of January—nearly triple last year’s figure.
Airlines are updating check-in system prompts, but industry body BARA warns staff training may lag. Employers should audit traveller profiles to flag dual nationals, ensure valid UK documents are on file, or budget for courier upgrades. Failure to do so could strand key personnel at departure gates and trigger costly project delays.
The episode underscores a broader communication challenge as the UK moves toward a fully digital border: rules that were once enforced at immigration desks now bite at the airline counter, shifting both risk and responsibility onto travellers and their employers.
