Naturalised British person could be refused consulate help?

[flutterbye29]

Hi

I wonder if someone can help with this. I did try and search the forums and couldn't find anything on this topic.

My wife has recently naturalised to a British citizen but doesn't yet have a British passport. She is currently traveling on her native Ukraine passport with a UK issued ILR visa.

The question is, if she loses this passport abroad, will the UK consulate attempt to give her an emergency passport to get home to the UK?

[PaperPusher]

See this:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and ... /passports

We can issue you with a replacement travel document if you need to travel urgently. But we’ll need some verification of your identity and to be satisfied that you are a British national. You’ll also need to show us a police report and pay a fee.

This document may be an emergency passport valid for a single journey, a temporary one-year passport or a standard passport, depending on embassy facilities and your travel needs. We need to make checks before we can issue a passport and this may mean you have to delay your travel plans.

You’ll have to pay an extra fee if staff need to issue an emergency travel document outside of normal office hours. This starts at £121. You should also consider whether you need to obtain an exit visa from the local immigration authorities. Some countries do not issue such visas outside normal office hours.

Check with the local British embassy or consulate to see what services it offers. Local conditions mean that different passport services are available in different areas.

Make sure you take copies that you keep safely and separate to your passports. Perhaps she is better off getting a UK passport.

However if you are naturalised as a British citizen and you get arrested or detained in a country that you are also a national of:

If you are a dual national travelling in the state of your other nationality we would not normally offer you support or get involved in dealings between you and the authorities of that state. We may make an exception if, having looked at the circumstances of the case, we consider that there is a special humanitarian reason to do so.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and ... ong/arrest

[flutterbye29]

Hi

Many thanks for the reply. I did see that at the fco site but the information is in the context of loosing a british passport (I think).

If she's in a 3rd part country with both UK embassy and Ukraine embassy, the question is, is it possible that the UK consulate could say that because she entered that 3rd part country with a Ukraine passport she should contact the Ukraine consulate who would issue her papers to get back to th Ukraine?

If that was the case it would be a disaster for us since she lives and works in the UK and it would take at least 2 months to get another Ukraine passport issued in Ukraine plus ILR visa stamp.

[PaperPusher]

People do apply for their first British passport abroad, but I have no idea how long it takes. I am sure it would be more difficult without a recent passport with ILR or other form of ID.

As I said, perhaps she should get a British passport before she travels.

[Wanderer]

I don't want to scare u but I read on Ukrainian websites that former-UKR citz with evidence of two passports will be jailed, for as u no doubt know UKR doesn't allow dual-citizenship and is totally clamping down on it.

So in this scenario I wouldn't expect any help from UK consulate...

[Mr Rusty]

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this website or the reliability of its information -

http://www.aboutimmigration.co.uk/dual-nationality.html

but it says this:-

"Under international law a person with dual nationality will not be entitled to British consulate assistance when abroad if they are in the country of their original nationality."

But I can't believe that this would extend to refusing to issue someone with a document to enable them to return home. If she never had a British passport, and lost her Ukrainian one, I bet they wouldn't issue a British passport to her in Kiev. She would have to obtain a new Ukrainian passport and then apply for a Certificate of Entitlement of Right of Abode, as ILR would no longer be appropriate. God knows how long that would take to sort out. Then she wouldn't be entitled to a British passport as long as the Ukrainian passport was valid. If she's in a third country, Consuls can and do issue 1-sheet Emergency Passports, but these are normally supported by evidence of a previous passport.

The answer is, as already suggested, to get her a British passport before she travels, and keep paper and electronic copies. If she's worried about the Ukrainians withdrawing her UKR nationality, well, tough luck, you can't always have the best of both worlds and it's not a problem created by the UK, or one that the UK is obliged to do anything about.

[Wanderer]

Show ur missus this it's in Russian (not Ukrainian), not there's that much difference.

http://kp.ua/daily/030609/182028/

[Sten]

I can't understand the reason for worries .. has she set her mind on losing her passport for some reason, or is she famous for losing things ?

I believe if she has entered country with her other passport, she will be considered as the citizen of that country. But if this really worries you, just call British consulate in that country, I am sure they will be able to give you a definite answer in 2 minutes.

[Mr Rusty]

Further to my previous, this is the advice on the Foreign Office website (on the page about what happens if you're arrested or in difficulty):

"Dual Nationals
If you are a dual national travelling on your British Passport in a third state (that is a country of which you are not a national) we will offer you our full support. If you are travelling on the passport of your other nationality, we will normally direct you to that state's local Embassy, High Commission, or Consulate. If you are a dual national travelling in the state of your other nationality we would not normally offer you support or get involved in dealings between you and the authorities of that state. We may make an exception if, having looked at the circumstances of the case, we consider that there is a special humanitarian reason to do so."

[1963British]

Call this as generic traveling advice.

Make a scan of the citizenship Certificate and have her e mail it to herself. That way she can access it anytime and print it.

That document copy will have no force but it has the Home Office registration numbers. It would be simple for a Consulate to establish she is British with those numbers in hand.

My guess on the matter, if she is in a third country, she could get an emergency single journey passport that could be used solely to get back into the UK.

Regardless, best to have a UK Passport in advance and pay any extra cost for expedited handling.