Lib Dems call on home secretary to delay new dual national border rules

Letter to Shabana Mahmood describes controls that could block British dual citizens’ entry to UK as ‘unacceptable’

The Liberal Democrats have called on the home secretary to “move at speed” to delay the rollout of new border controls that could result in British dual nationals being blocked from entering the country.

A letter sent by the party to Shabana Mahmood echoes one sent by the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis on Friday asking for a grace period to be implemented urgently after one of his constituents living in the Netherlands told how she could no longer visit her dying mother in a care home in Yorkshire.

Families have told of the cancellation of flights to attend funerals, 80th birthday parties and visits to elderly and dying parents. Young parents who were forced to take out citizenship in the EU because of Brexit, but whose children do not yet have British passports, have also been hit.

From Wednesday British dual nationals risk not being allowed to board a plane, ferry or train unless they present a current or expired British passport or a “certificate of entitlement” costing £589, which takes eight weeks to obtain.

“It is unacceptable that British citizens could be penalised,” said Will Forster, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for immigration and asylum, in the letter to Mahmood also signed by 23 other Lib Dem MPs. No British citizen should be denied the right to come home “simply because of badly-communicated and ill-thought-out administrative changes”, the letter said.

It added: “I would urge you to move at speed to introduce a grace period to protect those affected.”

Davis pointed out that Google trends showed a huge jump in searches for passport inquiries in the past week. Searches for “passports” were made 20,000 times, up 10% overall, but searches for “dual passports” were up 90%.

He told the Guardian on Sunday: “The Home Office really has to take this seriously because a British person’s right to live or enter their own country should not be stopped by their own government, full stop. If she [Mahmood] doesn’t take this seriously, this issue will not go away and it will continue to be pursued.”

One young British woman who has been in touch with the Guardian said she and her partner were considering cutting short their honeymoon in New Zealand because her husband, who is from Scotland, does not have a British passport and travelled on his New Zealand papers.

“We heard about the change while out for dinner in a restaurant in Auckland and are now facing ending our honeymoon considerably early at massive expense or being stranded abroad. While trying to find any guidance or help, we’ve been passed from one government office to another with no interest or help from any,” said the woman over email.

She said they had also gone to the consulate in Auckland but everyone there said “it’s nothing to do with them” and a phone line designated as “help for British people” cut out.

One parent in the US trying to get a first time passport for his dual national son before a trip to see elderly parents said it was impossible to get one quickly. “Despite me being British born with a British birth certificate, we need to get original birth certificates and marriage certificates of all four grandparents. Some of those documents are close to 100 years old and the people are long since dead,” he said.

Airlines are obliged to comply with rules or risk fines, making it difficult for those with flights after next Wednesday to know whether they can travel.

British immigration lawyers said one solution would be to temporarily treat British dual nationals like tourists, allowing them to buy a £16 electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to get into the country. “Policy groups are calling upon the Home Office to simply allow dual nationals to apply for and hold ETAs – which is sensible. The Home Office should step back from its rollout, which is causing unnecessary deep damage to the goodwill of overseas British citizens,” said Alex Finch of Constantine Law.

He pointed out that the Home Office on Friday published a partial “fix” saying that carriers may allow dual nationals to board if they have an expired British passport issued in 1989 or later along with a valid passport for a nationality eligible to apply for an ETA. “But that still leaves anyone without a qualifying expired British passport in an uncertain position,” said Finch.

The Home Office said it “strongly recommends” a British passport for smooth travel. It said emergency travel documents were for available adults and children who had previously held a UK passport issued after 1 January 2006 “where the need for urgent travel meets the exceptional circumstances criteria”.

It said: “From 25 February 2026, all dual British citizens will need to present either a valid British passport or certificate of ntitlement when travelling to the UK. Without one carriers cannot verify they are a British citizen, which may lead to delays or refused boarding.

“Public information advising dual nationals to carry the correct documentation has been available since October 2024 and a substantive communications campaign about the introduction of ETA has been running since 2023.”