Expats renounce British citizenship as new passport rules loom
Expats are renouncing their British citizenship before a change in rules this month that will require all dual nationals to have a British passport.
About 1.2 million dual British citizens across the world could be affected by the change, which campaigners have warned will make them “second-class citizens” because they will be put in a worse position than foreign citizens.
At present British dual citizens can enter the UK using non-British passports. However, from February 25, they will have to present a British passport when entering the country or obtain a “certificate of entitlement” at a cost of nearly £600.
What the new UK passport rules mean for dual nationals
Irish passport holders are exempt from the rule as they are part of the Common Travel Area, which means they cannot be denied entry.
British embassies and consulates around the world have been inundated with inquiries after complaints about a lack of warning of the changes.
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It means dual nationals trying to enter Britain with non-British passports could be blocked from boarding flights to Britain or stopped at the border, putting them at a disadvantage compared with foreign travellers whose journeys to the UK will be unaffected by the rule change.
Mark Stocker, 70, a British dual national art historian who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, said he was among many who would be renouncing their British citizenship to avoid the lengthy and costly process of obtaining a British passport.
He was born in Watford and went on to study at three British universities. “You can’t get more British than that,” he said. Stocker moved to New Zealand in 1986, a week after he obtained his PhD and has lived there ever since but has returned regularly to visit family, to carry out research on his Victorian art projects and frequently writes letters to The Times. “I still feel a definite affection for Britain,” he said.
However, his last British passport expired more than 20 years ago and reapplying would require him to unearth and send his parents’ original birth and marriage certificates, a task he does not think would be possible.
He said: “The process of renouncing is simpler and cleaner than applying for a passport. I’m doing this for several reasons, really.
“One, renouncing will mean that I will be just like any other New Zealander in the future, and there’s nothing that needs to be renewed. I can visit Britain on the same basis as any Kiwi.
“I think the other thing is that renouncing, in a way, is quite a strong gesture to say I thoroughly disapprove of this government measure, whereas searching around for historic birth certificates is kind of gratifying the British government and its policy. Renouncing is saying, ‘I don’t want to be part of it’.”
Stocker said the change in rules was “another phase in the disintegration of the Commonwealth” and while he was still proud of his British roots, many of his friends and family in Britain were “aghast and ashamed of their government”.
He said: “It’s the last nail in the coffin for old-fashioned Commonwealth ideas of decency towards ‘kith and kin’ — a phrase you used to hear a lot and one which the late Queen believed in.”
Stocker’s friend Rory Sweetman, 71, is taking a different approach and is attempting to reapply for a British passport so he can visit his family in the UK. He had held a British passport for 40 years until 2009, when he let it lapse without applying.
After learning of the rule changes he reapplied for a British passport, but more than six months on he is on the verge of giving up after being led on a “wild goose chase for unobtainable documentation”.
Despite having previously held a British passport, he is being asked to provide his father’s original birth certificate, which he is finding impossible to find given he was born in Belfast in 1919.
How many months do I need on my passport to travel?
“I told them [the Passport Office] that if I had that document, it would be framed on my wall and there is no way I would be consigning it to a letter box to travel 13,000 miles to God knows what fate,” he said. “It’s just beyond unreasonable what they’re asking. I think it’s an obstructive and dishonest attempt to make me give up.”
That will force him to decide between renouncing his British citizenship, which would then enable him to use his New Zealand or Irish passports to enter the UK, or never travel to Britain again. “I probably will give up because thankfully I’ve got two other passports that are perfect,” he said, contrasting the ease of the Irish passport system with the British.
Jaki O’Neil, a dual British citizen who now lives in Toronto, Canada, had planned to visit the UK in March to celebrate her father’s 83rd birthday, but the change in passport rules has put that in jeopardy.
She did not renew her passport after it expired during the pandemic in 2020 and had been able to travel to the UK on her Canadian passport.
O’Neil, 56, only found out about the passport rule changes when her friend sent her a link last month and now faces a nervous wait to find out if her application for a new passport succeeds in time for her trip next month.
She said: “I was flabbergasted not only by the new rule but the fact it was to be enforced in February of this year! I had booked a flight last November to come and visit my soon-to-be 83-year-old dad for his birthday in March. I am literally all he has left and for the past ten years I have always been there to celebrate his special day, it is all now up in jeopardy because of this new rule.
“I have been so stressed, angry, upset and frustrated, because if I had known of this I would have obviously renewed my passport a lot sooner. I have now renewed online, sent in the documents and have been waiting with bated breath to see if I will get my passport in time to fly.”
Paul Freemantle left Swindon in 2000 to take up a job working for a car parts supplier in Michigan, where he met his wife, Sheri.
Their three children do not have British passports, but through Freemantle they qualify for British citizenship, which means they must now each obtain a British passport in time for a trip to the UK in July that will cost them more than £300 in passport fees alone.
Freemantle said his frustration was the lack of direct communication with those affected by the passport changes, which they only found out when they came across a YouTube video.
But they will not be giving up British citizenship. He said: “The benefits are that we can enter the citizen line at immigration for both countries and it allows my children to live and work in the UK in future. But we really should have not found out from a YouTube video for sure.”
The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases but said the changes were a key part of its efforts to modernise Britain’s digital border systems. It said a “substantive communications campaign” had been launched to raise awareness of the changes.
A government source said that the changes were also designed to help the Home Office distinguish between visa overstayers who have no right to remain in the UK and dual British citizens who do not have a British passport but who do have the right to remain in the UK indefinitely. At present there is no way of distinguishing between the two, according to the source, which has contributed to the lack of reliable data on the number of people in the UK who have overstayed their visa.
The Home Office said: “From February 25, 2026, all dual British citizens will need to present either a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement when travelling to the UK. Without one, carriers cannot verify they are a British citizen, which may lead to delays or refused boarding.
“This requirement applies to all British citizens regardless of other nationality and is the same approach taken by other countries, including the United States and Australia.”