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    I am a dual British-EU citizen. I don’t need an ETA. How does this work in practice?

    **** BREAKING NEWS - START ****

    On 10 March 2026, Home Office guidance on dual citizenship announced a major policy change affecting dual British citizens who had status under the EU Settlement Scheme before becoming British.  

    Contrary to the information in the FAQ below, these dual citizens can now continue to travel to and enter the UK with their other (non-British) passport. They therefore do not need to obtain a British passport if they don’t want to.

    This is not a transitional measure, this is indefinite. But note:

     

    We will update the information in the FAQ below in due course.

    **** BREAKING NEWS - END ****

     

     

     

    If you are a dual citizen with British OR Irish citizenship, you do not need an ETA (in fact you are not eligible for one). When a person naturalises or registers as a British citizen, they no longer require leave to remain in the UK, and therefore any immigration status they held becomes void (even though this may not be reflected in your online status account).

    To prove your permission to enter the UK, you need:

    • a valid British passport
    • OR a valid Irish passport/passport card
    • OR a valid (non-British) passport containing a certificate of entitlement

    See our FAQ: I am an EU citizen and after I got settled status I naturalised as a British citizen. I do not have a British passport. Can I travel to and enter the UK on my EU passport? for more details.

    From 25 February 2026, carriers need to strictly enforce the ETA requirement, and this has direct consequences for British or dual British citizens without a British passport. See this House of Commons Library explainer and this Home Office webpage.

    Dual nationals need to separately prove their right to enter the UK, and their right to enter the EU.  Dual nationals who live in the EU may also have another reason to prove their right to live in the EU, namely to show their exemption from the rule that only allows visitors to stay in the EU for 90 days out of every 180. It is strongly advised to always travel with both a valid UK passport and a valid EU passport, and to be ready to show either one at different points of your journey.

    • When travelling from the UK to the EU: use your EU passport to prove your rights to your airline or carrier (to show you have the right to enter the EU).
    • When travelling from the EU to the UK:
      • use your British passport to prove your rights to your airline or carrier (to show you have the right to enter the UK, and the exemption from the ETA requirement).
      • If you live in the EU you might also need to show your EU passport (to show that you have the right to live in the EU and are not a subject to the EU's 90/180 day rule for visitors).
    • When it comes to the actual immigration checkpoints however, show your EU passport to EU border force officers when entering / leaving the EU, and show your UK passport to UK border force when entering / leaving the UK.

     

    Many airlines do not provide the functionality to attach different documents for different legs of your journey. the3million has raised this issue with the Home Office and the EU Delegation, who in turn have been engaging with airlines and the Aviation Authority. 

    In practice, this may mean you have to go to a check-in desk and show the carrier your British passport when returning to the UK. Airlines must accept proof of your rights and accept that British citizens do NOT require an ETA. 

    Please get in touch with us if you experience any difficulties: www.the3million.org.uk/report-it and www.the3million.org.uk/contact-us.

    I am a dual British-EU citizen, I entered my EU passport* number against my outbound flight and now the airline is refusing to let me board to come home to the UK without an ETA - what do I do?

    If you have booked a return flight to the EU, then ideally you want to make sure that your British passport is linked to your return flight back home to the UK.

    This is because if your EU passport is attached to your return flight, the carrier may say that you need to have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), because they won’t be able to see that you have EUSS status linked to your EU passport. It is important to note that if you have a British passport, you should not get an ETA.

    So what can you do if you have linked your EU passport to your booking before you set off on your trip?

    1. Your airline might allow you to change the passport that’s linked to your booking part-way through your trip. In other words, once you’ve reached your destination, you can go back into your booking and attach your British passport to your booking instead, so that when you check-in for your flight home, the carrier computer systems don’t ask you for an ETA.
       
    2. If your airline doesn’t allow this, and you’re stuck with the EU passport attached to your return flight, then this means you probably won’t be able to check in online. However, you should be able to just turn up at the airport, and show your British passport at a check in desk. If the airline denies you boarding, then they are wrong and you should be able to claim compensation. Please report it to us or contact us.
       
    3. We have heard reports that airlines may not allow either of the above options, and insist that without an ETA, you will not be allowed to board. We very much disagree with this position, and would urge you to report it to us or contact us so that we can continue to pressure the Home Office and airline carriers. However, we have also had reports about Ryanair, where a workaround that has been successful for some is to use the Ryanair live chat option, and request that your flight reservation is split, so that you can use a different document to check in.
       
    4. There may be some people whose passports are in different names - for example:

      - a Dutch passport in a birth name (with married name mentioned on the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ) but only the birth name in the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ); and
      - a British passport issued in the married name

      In this case it may be impossible to change the passport halfway through the trip, because the carrier will likely reject a passport that is issued in a different name. In which case, you will need to go to the airport as in option 2, and explain your situation.

     

    For the next time you book a return flight, it might be easier to use your British passport for the whole booking. However, once the EU introduces ETIAS, the EU version of ETA, in late 2026, this workaround won’t help either, and you really will need to attach a separate passport to each leg of your trip if you want to be able to check-in online rather than having to go to a check-in desk. You will need to link your EU Passport to your flight to the EU (to demonstrate exemption from the ETIAS requirement), and your British passport to your flight back to the UK (to demonstrate exemption from the ETA requirement).

    There is always the option of booking two separate one-way flights instead of a return flight, but there are commercial drawbacks to this. 

    Please submit a report or contact us if you are affected by any of the above, because the more we hear from individuals’ experiences, the greater pressure we can apply to improve the process for everyone.

    * Wherever we say EU passport, we mean ‘EU passport or EU national identity card’. But make sure you take a look at our FAQ I have (pre-) settled status. Can I use my EU national identity card to enter the UK? for important information about use of national identity cards after 31 December 2025.

    See also our other FAQs:

     

    We also wrote an article on this issue in the magazine Border Management Today, see page 41 of the October 2023 issue.

     

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