Thai Wife British Citizen. Can she fly in and out of UK withThai passport?

[baannambua]

Hi everyone, my wife and I want to fly pretty urgently to Thailand with our kids. Within the next couple of weeks. She has Citizenship here but we havn't got ber a British passport yet. I have read up and the passport process can take up to 6 weeks.

As she still only has her Thai passport can she fly freely in and out of the UK? Thanks

[BritTim]

I think you will need to get her an emergency travel document. Contact the embassy for details.

If traveling on a Thai passport, I do not think the airline will let her check in without a UK visa.

[baannambua]

It's a bit confusing. Her British Permit card I presume is expired and her Citizenship take's it's place. I don't think you can apply for an adult first passport under urgent circumstances.

[saakura]

I think you will need to get her an emergency travel document. Contact the embassy for details.

If traveling on a Thai passport, I do not think the airline will let her check in without a UK visa.

Please read the post again, they are flying from UK.

[baannambua]

Can't she fly back into the UK with her Thai passport and Naturalisation Certificate as a back up proofing she is a Citizen?

[true blue]

immigration don't check your passport on the way out,only at entry

[baannambua]

Yes I mean when she arrives in the UK and goes through immigration. Can she show her Thai passport and Naturalisation certificate? Proofing she is a British Citizen.

I just checked her British residence Permit and it says it's valid until 2024 so she could just use that at British Immigration desk?

[Maestro]

Can't she fly back into the UK with her Thai passport and Naturalisation Certificate as a back up proofing she is a Citizen?

That would be for the airline to decide at the time of check-in for the flight to the UK. Thai immigration will not check for a UK visa. What UK immigration will do on arrival, I do not know.

[baannambua]

But she could use her BRP to check into the flight and at UK immigration? I first thought the British Residence Permit was cancelled once she had become a Citizen but after checking it says valid til 2024.

[Maestro]

Why would her Thai passport not be sufficient for the airline check-in at the UK airport?

[Pilotman]

As long as she still has her 'Indefinate right to remain' stamp in her Thai passport then she can travedl on it.

[sunnyjim5]

As others have suggested there is nothing to prevent your wife flying from the UK to Thailand using her Thai passport.

Returning and being allowed back into the UK is entirely dependent on whether her passport contains an unequivocal right of entry to the UK.

[Richard W]

Yes I mean when she arrives in the UK and goes through immigration. Can she show her Thai passport and Naturalisation certificate? Proofing she is a British Citizen.

I just checked her British residence Permit and it says it's valid until 2024 so she could just use that at British Immigration desk?

I'm happy with the morality of this course of action, though I'm not sure of its legality.

Indefinite leave to remain is supposed to become meaningless when British citizenship is granted, and is not automatically reactivated if British citizenship is lost. There are plenty of recent cases of newly naturalised Britons travelling back to the UK on their old, foreign passports, using a BRP showing indefinite leave to remain. However, she should only show her naturalisation certificate if she is challenged as to the validity of the indefinite leave to remain.

A British national arriving at a port who can prove that they are a British national must be treated as a British national, even if they have no British passport. If your wife were then admitted as a visitor (British nationals don't need visas for the UK), she could lawfully overstay as any limit on her stay in the UK would be invalid - as a British citizen, she has right of abode! (The UK is different from Thailand - one doesn't lose one's rights and responsibilities as a citizen by entering on a foreign passport.)

The biggest risk is being refused boarding at the airport on the way back to the UK. She would then have to obtain an emergency passport in Bangkok and come back by a later flight. This could conceivably happen if the BRP has been cancelled - but the evidence is that this is not happening in any relevant way.

[PattayaPhom]

Don't the UK still offer a fast track service for an extra cost, she is going to need a pp at some point so why not get it now

[ubonjoe]

Don't the UK still offer a fast track service for an extra cost, she is going to need a pp at some point so why not get it now

Not for the first passport. It is only available for a renewal.