Travel for work immediately after citizenship ceremony - query

[trantrungtri2911]

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well.

As I am going to attend citizenship ceremony and then travel for work soon, and based on other threads I have read about people having slightly similar situation, I have a couple of questions:

Background: I received an invitation from Home Office for Citizenship Ceremony on Monday, February 24, and have booked a private ceremony for Monday, March 10. My passport is currently with the Spanish Consulate for a visa application for a business trip from March 17-21.

Question:
1. If I don’t have my passport by the time of the ceremony, what alternative documents can I use? I don’t have a driving license, but I plan to present my old physical ILR BRP (expired December 31, 2024) along with a printout of the Immigration Share Code. Will this be sufficient?
2. I understand that once I receive the citizenship certificate at the ceremony, my current visa becomes void. When I return to the UK from Spain on March 21, will the share code still be valid for immigration checks? What additional documents should I provide to the immigration officer?

Many thanks for your help!

[paulina_wa]

1. The best thing to do is to contact your council. Mine were happy with any form of photo ID so perhaps a Spanish national ID (if you have one) would do?
2. Take your naturalisation certificate with you and it should be fine (although generally speaking, it's not advised to travel between the ceremony and getting your British passport).

Any chance you could move your ceremony to after you come back? It's only a couple of weeks and it would save you a lot of stress!

[paulina_wa]

Apologies, I misread your post and thought you were from Spain!

1. Any other photo ID you could show them? Foreign should be fine!

2. Entering the UK based on the naturalisation cert should be fine but I'm not sure if the airline would let you fly on a Vietnamese passport without a valid visa... I'll leave this one for others to comment on!

[lolo2]

1. If I don’t have my passport by the time of the ceremony, what alternative documents can I use? I don’t have a driving license, but I plan to present my old physical ILR BRP (expired December 31, 2024) along with a printout of the Immigration Share Code. Will this be sufficient?

You could ask the Council what other forms of photo ID they accept. Sometimes this is specified in the ceremony invitation. I don't think a share code is relevant for this purpose.

2. I understand that once I receive the citizenship certificate at the ceremony, my current visa becomes void. When I return to the UK from Spain on March 21, will the share code still be valid for immigration checks? What additional documents should I provide to the immigration officer?

Once you receive the certificate of naturalisation, your current immigration status is no longer valid, you become a British citizen.

For peace of mind, I would change the date of the ceremony for when you're back in the UK.

Note that the airline staff has no way to verify if you're already British or not. I had the same situation (had to travel right after ceremony) last year and had zero issues. This is not the best practice though, that's the reason why I suggest to change the date of the ceremony - provided you booked it privately.

You still can use your expired BRP card to re-enter the UK at least until 31 March 2025, together with the share code as the rules indicate.

PS: in the UK you can apply for a provisional driving licence which is a completely valid photo ID form. No need to have a car or even know how to drive to obtain one.

[trantrungtri2911]

1. If I don’t have my passport by the time of the ceremony, what alternative documents can I use? I don’t have a driving license, but I plan to present my old physical ILR BRP (expired December 31, 2024) along with a printout of the Immigration Share Code. Will this be sufficient?

You could ask the Council what other forms of photo ID they accept. Sometimes this is specified in the ceremony invitation. I don't think a share code is relevant for this purpose.

2. I understand that once I receive the citizenship certificate at the ceremony, my current visa becomes void. When I return to the UK from Spain on March 21, will the share code still be valid for immigration checks? What additional documents should I provide to the immigration officer?

Once you receive the certificate of naturalisation, your current immigration status is no longer valid, you become a British citizen.

For peace of mind, I would change the date of the ceremony for when you're back in the UK.

Note that the airline staff has no way to verify if you're already British or not. I had the same situation (had to travel right after ceremony) last year and had zero issues. This is not the best practice though, that's the reason why I suggest to change the date of the ceremony - provided you booked it privately.

You still can use your expired BRP card to re-enter the UK at least until 31 March 2025, together with the share code as the rules indicate.

PS: in the UK you can apply for a provisional driving licence which is a completely valid photo ID form. No need to have a car or even know how to drive to obtain one.

Could you let me know how did the airline & immigration office at the foreign country allowed you to get on the plan going back to the UK?

[lolo2]

Could you let me know how did the airline & immigration office at the foreign country allowed you to get on the plan going back to the UK?

They followed the usual process - I had to show my passport and BRP card, nothing extraordinary.

I stick with my previous advice, change the date of the ceremony for a date after your trip.

[contorted_svy]

As you have plenty of time to attend the ceremony, just save yourself a massive headache and change the date of your ceremony, get your UK passport straight after, and no need to worry.