When dual nationality leads to double trouble | Letters

"The new border controls being introduced for dual nationals create anomalies that will surprise no one who has followed recent Home Office policy changes (Dual nationals to be denied entry to UK from 25 February unless they have British passport, 13 February). At worst they are cruel; at best they are exploitative money-making exercises, unthought out, or the bureaucratic consequence of the introduction of digitisation."

"My settled status now allows me to travel freely between the UK and Belgium using my EU passport. A few years ago, I applied for British citizenship because I was uncertain whether my entitlement to live and work in the UK would be maintained after Brexit. I have not yet applied for a British passport because I would have to submit my Belgian one for an unknown length of time, which might prevent me from visiting my ailing 96-year-old father in Brussels."

"Now, since I am a British citizen, I am required to apply for a newly created certificate of entitlement, costing 589, in order to be able to return to the UK whenever I visit my dad in Brussels, or indeed leave the country at all. Had I not become a British citizen, I would not have required this certificate. Who would have thought that obtaining British citizenship would prevent me from travelling freely between the UK and Belgium or elsewhere?"

New border controls require dual nationals to present a British passport or obtain a certificate of entitlement costing 589 to enter the UK. A Belgian citizen with settled status and 32 years working in the UK applied for British citizenship but has not applied for a British passport to avoid surrendering a Belgian passport temporarily, which could prevent visiting an ailing 96-year-old father in Brussels. As a British citizen without a passport, the person must now apply for the 589 certificate to re-enter the UK after visits, whereas remaining non-British would not require it. The requirement creates anomalies, appears unthought-out, can be cruel or exploitative, and contrasts with ETA rules that allow French passport holders an Electronic Travel Authorisation for 16 while Franco-British dual nationals face different hurdles.

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