Recent experiences with travelling AFTER ceremony?

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Wed May 24, 2023 12:21 pm

@jsanc & @newuser198, I think that you are confusing two very separate issues.

No, I am aware of the difference in what you described. The hesitation comes from the fact that nowhere on the HO guidance says naturalisation certificate alone is enough to prove British citizenship, at the border. See the freedom of info reply I posted above: the border control says something to that effect too. Immigration rules also say British citizenship should be proved by passport, and no passport means “may have difficulty in proving your citizenship.”

In reality I agree the certificate plus database check is enough, and all of these wording are just to cover their legal behinds probably, but it does make newcomers to the process tentative.

Still,I agree this is probably okay simply because there is no cause to refuse entry based on certificate alone too.

Good luck newuser198, let us know how it goes. And I agree with the airport comment- if you can tell us which airport you are arriving in that’d be great too.

Ticktack wrote: ↑

Thu May 25, 2023 10:55 am

Well you need to mail in your old passport when you apply for a British passport so you can’t travel in any case. I will say that I am now leaning towards travelling with naturalisation certificate simply because we essentially have two types of entry document: either we are British citizens and can prove so with our naturalisation certificate, or our ILR is still valid because ILR only becomes invalid/irrelevant when you become a British citizen. They can’t say well you can’t prove both because it’s literally either/or.

Not sure how the fine goes but I don’t think border force people are in charge of issuing that, wrong department lol

Once you make to the UK border, they have to let you in.

I'll digress a bit.

British nationals travelling from the UK don't need a passport to visit Ireland (Not to talk of entering back into the UK). However, Irish immigration officers will check the ID of all passengers arriving by air from the UK and may ask for proof of nationality, particularly if you were born outside the UK.

So if you were born in the UK before 1983, you could potentially enter Ireland with a Drivers license.

Your naturalisation certificate trumps any thing an IO thinks. Worst case, he'd have to check with his manager. Sometimes, the crazy check delays also depends on what airport you're entering from. Luton airport is probably one of the worst.

Yes, this is also why I think this route is okay although “not encouraged” officially. It is actually explicitly stated on official website that you can use naturalisation certificate to enter Ireland. It’s just when it comes to UK mainland they don’t explicitly say so.

thanks everyone for your help and advice, very much appreciated. i will be returning back to UK via Heathrow Airport. Will keep this thread updated on how it goes..

so i am back in the UK!! At the border entry (Heathrow Airport) i presented my BRP and had the certificates ready to show, just in case if the officer asks, but he asked the usual questions like whats the purpose of the visit and i explained that i live here and work here in the UK, and went for a week holiday, etc. Boom!! thats it, i was through..

Thanks very much for everyone who have spend time in posting advice (and thanks jsanc for creating this thread). Without this forum, i would have never went ahead with my plan. Thanks again! and good luck jsanc.

newuser198 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:28 am

so i am back in the UK!! At the border entry (Heathrow Airport) i presented my BRP and had the certificates ready to show, just in case if the officer asks, but he asked the usual questions like whats the purpose of the visit and i explained that i live here and work here in the UK, and went for a week holiday, etc. Boom!! thats it, i was through..

Thanks very much for everyone who have spend time in posting advice (and thanks jsanc for creating this thread). Without this forum, i would have never went ahead with my plan. Thanks again! and good luck jsanc.

That was fantastic to hear, I've decided to go through with the ceremony first as well. Can I ask which queue did you line up at, the British Citizens one or with all others?

with all others.

newuser198 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:46 pm

with all others.

Thank you so much! That's really helpful, I'll do that too. Thanks again for everyone's help on this board!

I have just returned from Iceland this morning, I have an EU passport, had a ceremony in the end of last month and deliberately didn't apply for a British passport, because I would have to send my current one so I would not be able to go abroad. No questions at Glasgow airport, just went through e-gates. Now I've sent the documents to HMPO as I don't have any travel arrangements soon

Back in the forum after a while, it is so great to see people helping each other out.
I wanted to see how jsanc's experience was?
I had my ceremony yesterday, and I am travelling for work this Sunday.
I am Argentinean, which means, I don't need a VISA to travel back to the UK, but I did tore up my BRP and sent it back yesterday, so right now all I have is my AR passport and my certificate of Naturalisation.
I printed out the letter where my settlement was approved, and I do have pictures of my now destroyed BRP.
It seems it will be ok, but any recent experiences will come in handy.

You'll be fine - you'll be admitted on the flight since you're a non visa required national and you can show.your naturalization certificate (or a copy) at British border to show that you're British.

meself2 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:19 pm

You'll be fine - you'll be admitted on the flight since you're a non visa required national and you can show.your naturalization certificate (or a copy) at British border to show that you're British.

Thanks Meself! Sorry to be so granular...will a copy/picture be enough you think or should I take the real thing?

Mileman wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 4:22 pm

meself2 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:19 pm

You'll be fine - you'll be admitted on the flight since you're a non visa required national and you can show.your naturalization certificate (or a copy) at British border to show that you're British.

Thanks Meself! Sorry to be so granular...will a copy/picture be enough you think or should I take the real thing?

Take the real/actual naturalization certificate.

For what it worth, we came back to the UK in April. Myself, wife and oldest child had ILR brp's, middle child British passport and youngest non-visa national passport + a print from atlas with ref number that the child is British citizen. We also had his old PBS dependent visa. At this point he was already a citizen for 2 weeks. (E.g. his certificate had been issued during our absence, minors do not require ceremony).

The IO looked at the letter, looked at our BRP's and just asked us how many years we have been living in the UK and where we came from.
He also stamp the child foreign passport with the PBS dependent BRP number and took the email printout.

AmazonianX wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 4:50 pm

Mileman wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 4:22 pm

meself2 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:19 pm

You'll be fine - you'll be admitted on the flight since you're a non visa required national and you can show.your naturalization certificate (or a copy) at British border to show that you're British.

Thanks Meself! Sorry to be so granular...will a copy/picture be enough you think or should I take the real thing?

Take the real/actual naturalization certificate.

Thanks Amazonian for the tip.

Ok, travelled with Arg passport + Naturalisation Certificate + Picture of the BRP before cutting up.
Quite kind migrations officer acknowledged it is not ideal, but, he made a note of my BRP number from the picture and I was through OK.
I told him I might need to do it again, since I have my family holiday in 5 weeks, and once again the passport timeline is an issue.
He told me to tell his colleague exactly what he did today, and I should be fine, but at no point did he give me the feeling that I could do it for a long time...
Hope that helps

Mileman wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 08, 2023 11:22 am

Ok, travelled with Arg passport + Naturalisation Certificate + Picture of the BRP before cutting up.
Quite kind migrations officer acknowledged it is not ideal, but, he made a note of my BRP number from the picture and I was through OK.
I told him I might need to do it again, since I have my family holiday in 5 weeks, and once again the passport timeline is an issue.
He told me to tell his colleague exactly what he did today, and I should be fine, but at no point did he give me the feeling that I could do it for a long time...
Hope that helps

Worked out fine at the end .

AmazonianX wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2023 2:01 am

Mileman wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 08, 2023 11:22 am

Ok, travelled with Arg passport + Naturalisation Certificate + Picture of the BRP before cutting up.
Quite kind migrations officer acknowledged it is not ideal, but, he made a note of my BRP number from the picture and I was through OK.
I told him I might need to do it again, since I have my family holiday in 5 weeks, and once again the passport timeline is an issue.
He told me to tell his colleague exactly what he did today, and I should be fine, but at no point did he give me the feeling that I could do it for a long time...
Hope that helps

Worked out fine at the end .

It did, but I still sent in my passport application today and cross my fingers it will be here within 5 weeks.
The timelines I've seen on other threads make me feel quite optimistic, but, we'll see!

Hi everyone, not sure if anyone checks the thread any more, but still.
So, I travelled with the passport and the naturalisation certificate a few weeks ago, and did OK in LHR with the immigration officer.
Now I sent my passport application on 08/07. Documents were acknowledged by HMPO one week ago, and have been stuck there ever since.
Other applications in the same office have been cleared in under two weeks, and I have been stuck on the same stage for over one now.
I am well within the 8 week timeframe, just wanted to check if anyone has gone thru sth similar?
Cant' help the feeling of being punished...

Mileman wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 12:25 pm

Hi everyone, not sure if anyone checks the thread any more, but still.
So, I travelled with the passport and the naturalisation certificate a few weeks ago, and did OK in LHR with the immigration officer.
Now I sent my passport application on 08/07. Documents were acknowledged by HMPO one week ago, and have been stuck there ever since.
Other applications in the same office have been cleared in under two weeks, and I have been stuck on the same stage for over one now.
I am well within the 8 week timeframe, just wanted to check if anyone has gone thru sth similar?
Cant' help the feeling of being punished...

Punished for what? You are not being targeted. Other application timeline does not mean yours will follow same path or time frame.

AmazonianX wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 12:48 pm

Mileman wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 25, 2023 12:25 pm

Hi everyone, not sure if anyone checks the thread any more, but still.
So, I travelled with the passport and the naturalisation certificate a few weeks ago, and did OK in LHR with the immigration officer.
Now I sent my passport application on 08/07. Documents were acknowledged by HMPO one week ago, and have been stuck there ever since.
Other applications in the same office have been cleared in under two weeks, and I have been stuck on the same stage for over one now.
I am well within the 8 week timeframe, just wanted to check if anyone has gone thru sth similar?
Cant' help the feeling of being punished...

Punished for what? You are not being targeted. Other application timeline does not mean yours will follow same path or time frame.

I know, it's just a bit of paranoia I suppose, and assuming all applications are managed the same way, which they are obviously not. You see things going straight through, and yours stuck and theories start to fly by (especially when I am supposed to travel again in a few weeks)
But the decision to send the application is completely on me so...tough luck
Thanks Amazonian!

I was quite stressed when realised that we (me and my wife) have to send back our ILRs within 5 days after ceremony as we had holiday planned one week later. This thread was very useful so i want to share our experience.

My wife and I are holders of Ukrainian passports so we require visa to enter UK (even for travel). We decided not to return ILRs immediately after ceremony and traveled with them to Spain. Our 2 yo son is holder of British passport and he traveled with us as well.

We flew back from Spain with BA to Heathrow. It was pretty busy and chaotic in Spanish airport so BA staff hasnt even asked us to show ILRs (i do feel other airlines are more strict with this e.g. Ryanair always checks).
In Heathrow we went to UK passport line and showed our Ukrainian passports and naturalisation certificates, boarder officer asked whether we still have ILRs on us - we said yes and showed them as well. Then she scanned our passports and put stamps in them (as usual wrote ILRs numbers next to the stamp).
All in all it took 2 mins and no questions asked, we didnt even need to do fingerprints.

Tbh i felt like it was easier for the boarder officer to use our ILRs then to do anything with naturalisation certificates.