British citizen using a PRC passport with a Right of Abode Certificate – digital CoE and subsequent British passport app

[JANESMITH023]

Hello everyone,

I would be extremely grateful for any advice or first-hand experience regarding the Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode, particularly following its recent move to a digital format.

I am currently a Chinese citizen holding a mainland PRC passport and ILR in the UK. I was granted ILR on 17 November 2025 and, assuming I continue to meet all the naturalisation requirements, I expect to become eligible to apply for British citizenship from 18 November 2026.

As China does not recognise dual nationality, I am considering what documentation I could use after naturalising as a British citizen. In particular, I am considering not applying for a British passport initially, but instead applying for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode using my PRC passport, so that I could use my PRC passport together with evidence of my Right of Abode when travelling to the UK.

I have read the current GOV.UK guidance, but I would be very grateful if anyone familiar with the new system could clarify the following points:

1. Digital Certificate of Entitlement
My understanding is that Certificates of Entitlement are now issued digitally rather than as physical vignettes in foreign passports. Is that now universally the case for new applications? If I applied after naturalisation in late 2026, would I simply have a digital Certificate of Entitlement linked to my PRC passport through my UKVI account, with nothing physically endorsed in the passport?
2. Has anyone used this arrangement as a naturalised British citizen?
Has anyone here naturalised as a British citizen, continued travelling on a non-British passport, and obtained a Certificate of Entitlement instead of immediately applying for a British passport? I would be particularly interested in any recent experience since the move to digital certificates.
3. What happens if I subsequently obtain a British passport?
I understand from the Home Office guidance that a person cannot hold a valid British passport and a Certificate of Entitlement at the same time, and that a Certificate of Entitlement may therefore be revoked once a British passport is issued. Is my understanding correct?
4. What does revocation look like under the new digital system?
If I initially had a digital Certificate of Entitlement linked to my PRC passport and later obtained a British passport, what would actually happen to my UKVI account? Would the digital Right of Abode record simply disappear or show as revoked/invalid? Would anything replace it in the UKVI account to indicate that I am now travelling as a British citizen, or would my British citizenship/passport simply sit entirely outside the UKVI digital-status system?

I appreciate that British nationality law and Chinese nationality law are separate matters, and I am primarily trying to understand the UK-side mechanics of the Certificate of Entitlement system after naturalisation, particularly following the recent digitisation.

Apologies for the rather detailed questions. I have found ImmigrationBoards extremely helpful in understanding UK immigration and nationality matters over the years, so I would be genuinely grateful for any knowledge, recent experience, or pointers to the relevant Home Office guidance.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to help.

[secret.simon]

Not many people go in for a CoE-RoA endorsement after naturalisation as a British citizen. Normally they apply for a British passport and then renounce their original nationality if that nationality does not permit dual nationality.

So you may not get much response to the queries to your very specific situation and questions.

3. What happens if I subsequently obtain a British passport?
I understand from the Home Office guidance that a person cannot hold a valid British passport and a Certificate of Entitlement at the same time, and that a Certificate of Entitlement may therefore be revoked once a British passport is issued. Is my understanding correct?

That understanding is correct. A physical CoE-RoA vignette would be stamped as cancelled, and I presume that a digital CoE-RoA would also likewise be cancelled. Whether that would mean that it disappears from the person's UKVI account, or still appear in the person's UKVI account, but with an end date, is an unknown.