Returning to the UK after a Trip

[MaprangHolmes]

My wife has gain UK citizenship but there was not enough time to apply for a UK passport before she travel back to Thailand.

Is there any problem with showing immigration in the UK her citizenship certificate to be allowed back in the UK?

Thank you

[laolover88]

Her UK citizenship pack, whatever the current version, should say something like:

"If, as a British citizen, you wish to travel on a non-British passport it must be endorsed to show that you have right of abode. Otherwise, you might experience difficulty proving your right to be re-admitted to the UK. Certifcates of entitlement to the right of abode are issued by the Home Office to applicants within the UK and by the appropriate British representatives abroad."

I presume she has valid ILR; though that will cease to be applicable once she has citizenship.

I would

a. Check with the airline that they will allow boarding

b. Be prepared for a little hassle on arrival. Make sure you have all original Certificates and Documents.

c. Probably enter on the basis of ILR.

Presume you have UK passport? Go together through a UK lane!

Happy to be corrected if someone knows more

Joke: Hope her spelling better than yours

Good luck

[MaprangHolmes]

Thank you for the reply, My wife still has her BRP which I have only just found out should of been returned, so she could show that to the airline, so boarding should not really be a problem.

[Richard W]

I think there's a risk that at some stage resident permits will be checked against databases before boarding; I've no idea when it will come into effect.

At present, it seems that certificates of naturalisation are being accepted, even though the Immigration Act 1971 was changed to stop them being used! The first people who were hit by the invalidation of residence permits after naturalisation were allowed through despite apparently having no evidence of citizenship in them.

It seems that liaison between the Passport Office (HMPO) and UKVI has improved - the HMPO can now find out when people had ILR. This is very relevant for children recently born in the UK to people on ILR who have had to surrender their resident permits and therefore lost the evidence that their children were born British.

There are also reports of people newly naturalised being advised to retain their residence permits for travel after naturalisation. The advice may be coming from normally unreliable sources such as a Home Office helpline.

[MaprangHolmes]

I'm not sure who told you the last part, now you have 5 days after your ceremony to return you BRP or face a fine of up to £1000.

https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/after-your-citizenship-ceremony

Once you’ve got your certificate of British citizenship, you must send your biometric residence permit back to the Home Office.

Send it back within 5 days of either:

• going to your citizenship ceremony
• getting your certificate of British citizenship

Cut up your biometric residence permit and put it in a windowless envelope with a note saying you’re returning your permit because you’ve become a citizen.

[Richard W]

I'm not sure who told you the last part, now you have 5 days after your ceremony to return you BRP or face a fine of up to £1000.

People who panicked when they suddenly discovered that naturalisation seemed set to cost them paid for flights.

[bobrussell]

Once you are naturalised as a British citizen you have an absolute right to enter the UK. Clearly for those returning from Syria and similar, this right might be to enter and go straight to a cell but it is still a right.

All you have to do is prove citizenship. The certificate should do this but there may be delays! Not sure how the airlines will feel about allowing boarding though!

You can face a fine of £5000 for taking your dog for a walk without a tag containing the name, address and post code! Penalties are often there but rarely applied!

[Trevor1809]

Is that the dog's name or the owner's name? I would hate to get a £5000 fine for getting that technicality wrong.

[bobrussell]

Owners name.

Don't panic, I have never heard of anyone being fined for not having a tag on the dogs collar. Just to show that penalties may just be there to frighten people.