Two more British teenagers have been unable to return to the UK due to new Home Office rules requiring dual nationals to present a British passport or certificate of entitlement before boarding flights to the UK. The cases emerged after reports of a 16-year-old British schoolgirl blocked from a flight in Denmark, missing two weeks of school.
A 19-year-old student from Oxfordshire, Anna, is stuck in Madrid after a university trip. She holds French nationality and lacks a British passport. Her mother, Rosemary, criticised the lack of transition time: “It’s like they have brought in a new law and not considered the time people needed to get passports.” Anna has her British birth certificate and proof of parents’ citizenship but cannot board.
An 18-year-old British-Danish national was stranded in Mumbai after Air India refused boarding without her British passport. Separated from friends, she slept in the airport. Her mother, Kristen, said ground staff advised an emergency visa that “turned out to be a scam”. She eventually caught another Air India flight.
In Yorkshire, Susan cancelled a planned visit from her son in New Zealand because his two children, aged seven months and three years, lack British passports. “Devastation doesn’t begin to describe it,” she said. Multiple British citizens in Canada and Australia have also reported being unable to return with newborns awaiting passports.
The Home Office has declined to comment on individual cases but noted the rules were posted on gov.uk in October 2024. Last week, it exempted EU citizens with settled status from the rule, but not their children. Calls for a grace period have been refused.
