The Home Office has confirmed that, from 25 February 2026, British dual nationals will no longer be able to enter the UK using only the passport of their other nationality. Instead, they must present a valid British passport or a certificate of entitlement (CoE) to the Right of Abode glued into the foreign passport. The CoE costs £589, must be renewed each time the foreign passport is replaced and can take weeks to obtain.
Officials say the measure closes a loophole in the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) regime. Because ETAs are available only to non-British, non-Irish travellers, a British dual national who attempted to rely on a foreign passport would be unable to obtain an ETA yet would still have a legal right to enter. Airlines and ferry operators would have no electronic confirmation of that right, creating confusion at check-in. By insisting on a British passport or CoE, the Home Office argues, the UK will have the same clarity that the United States and Canada demand of their own dual citizens.
Travellers overwhelmed by the new requirements can look to specialist expediters for assistance. VisaHQ, for instance, offers a dedicated UK service (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) that walks dual nationals through British passport renewals, monitors processing times and, when necessary, arranges certificates of entitlement—all aimed at reducing paperwork headaches and preventing last-minute travel disruptions.
![UK to bar dual nationals without British passports from 25 February, sparking backlash]()
For many expatriate Britons, however, the sudden enforcement has come as a shock. Retirees who allowed old blue passports to lapse, young adults who never applied for one, and citizens of countries that ban multiple nationality face unexpected costs and bureaucracy. Reader testimonies collected by the Guardian describe elderly parents abandoning long-planned family visits and some mid-career professionals considering renouncing British nationality altogether. Advocacy groups representing the estimated 1.2 million British dual nationals overseas accuse the government of poor communication and of penalising people who have spent decades living legally abroad.
Airlines are rapidly updating check-in systems to flag dual-national passengers. Travel management companies advise corporate mobility teams to audit employee passport data immediately: staff on assignment who reach the UK leg of an itinerary without the correct document will be denied boarding and the carrier fined. Employers should budget for emergency passport renewals and, where time is insufficient, for the CoE as a stop-gap.
Legal specialists add that the rule change reinforces the UK’s broader move toward fully digital borders. Once ETAs and eVisas become the only forms of “permission to travel”, every passenger—including British citizens—will have a single, unambiguous digital identity linked to their passport chip. For business-travel planners, the message is clear: make the British passport the default travel document for any employee who holds it, well before the February deadline.
Officials say the measure closes a loophole in the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) regime. Because ETAs are available only to non-British, non-Irish travellers, a British dual national who attempted to rely on a foreign passport would be unable to obtain an ETA yet would still have a legal right to enter. Airlines and ferry operators would have no electronic confirmation of that right, creating confusion at check-in. By insisting on a British passport or CoE, the Home Office argues, the UK will have the same clarity that the United States and Canada demand of their own dual citizens.
Travellers overwhelmed by the new requirements can look to specialist expediters for assistance. VisaHQ, for instance, offers a dedicated UK service (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) that walks dual nationals through British passport renewals, monitors processing times and, when necessary, arranges certificates of entitlement—all aimed at reducing paperwork headaches and preventing last-minute travel disruptions.
For many expatriate Britons, however, the sudden enforcement has come as a shock. Retirees who allowed old blue passports to lapse, young adults who never applied for one, and citizens of countries that ban multiple nationality face unexpected costs and bureaucracy. Reader testimonies collected by the Guardian describe elderly parents abandoning long-planned family visits and some mid-career professionals considering renouncing British nationality altogether. Advocacy groups representing the estimated 1.2 million British dual nationals overseas accuse the government of poor communication and of penalising people who have spent decades living legally abroad.
Airlines are rapidly updating check-in systems to flag dual-national passengers. Travel management companies advise corporate mobility teams to audit employee passport data immediately: staff on assignment who reach the UK leg of an itinerary without the correct document will be denied boarding and the carrier fined. Employers should budget for emergency passport renewals and, where time is insufficient, for the CoE as a stop-gap.
Legal specialists add that the rule change reinforces the UK’s broader move toward fully digital borders. Once ETAs and eVisas become the only forms of “permission to travel”, every passenger—including British citizens—will have a single, unambiguous digital identity linked to their passport chip. For business-travel planners, the message is clear: make the British passport the default travel document for any employee who holds it, well before the February deadline.
