Permanent UK residency help please.

[mrbrizz]

Hi there:

I am a 54 year old English born current resident of Australia, moved here in 1963, have Australian citiizesnhip and an Australian passort.

I am seeking to return to the UK permanently and wonder if in the interests of staying long term there is any need or advantage in me entering the UK on a Bbrit passpsort, in fact it may be that I HAVE to do so? I need definitive information on this please.

Would there be any future implications if I enter on my Aust passport or can / should I obtain a British one in the UK?

As a residetnt of Canberra I have acces to the British Consulate Passort Office who charge one even for telephone calls. Does not seem much point of I do not need one? Any experiences of tips would be very gratefully received.

Regards

[vinny]

Apply for either a British passport or a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode for your Australian passport.

[mrbrizz]

Many many thanks Vinny.

Had been on the Consulate site but did not know the Ceritifcate of Entitlement was even an option, you may have saved me immense time and expense, my sincere gratitude, great site!

Apply for either a British passport or a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode for your Australian passport.

[Frontier Mole]

The UK has toughened up the laws on illegal working, I imagine you have a full on AUS accent? That alone will ring alarm bells with employers and anyone else that relies on nationality to conduct business.
If you are seeking employment you will have to produce documentation that says you are entitled to work in the UK. This is not a great problem but you will have to produce your Brit birth certificate. The problem is everyone wants a photo ID as well. The question will be why UK birth cert but AUS passport? Are you British......

Getting anything like a bank account, credit cards, an NHS card etc etc will be much easier with a UK passport. Identity fraud is a big concern in the UK and it is so much easier to show a UK passport and not have to explain anything / everything to do with holding an AUS passport.

Getting the UK passport will be a pain, costs a fair bit now but I can assure you it will save a lot more time & effort once you are back in the UK.

[Christophe]

Although obtaining a certificate of entitlement (to the right of abode) is perfectly possible and will confirm your right to enter, remain in and work in the UK in the same way that a British passport will, there really is no advantage to going down this route compared with getting a British passport.

As noted above, a British passport is more likely to be readily recognised at places such as banks (although an Australian passport with a right of abode certificate in it would be fine), and most significantly it is easier to travel around Europe with a British passport (although, again, an Australian passport is fine and visas are not required for anywhere in the EU or the rest of western Europe). Cost-wise, there is not much (if anything) to be gained by going down the route of a certificate of entitlement rather than a passport, and I doubt that there will be very much difference in terms of time either.

It will also probably be much easier, in practical terms, for you to get a British passport in Australia than to get one later in the UK, since it will (I suppose) be simpler for you to find a suitable countersignatory who has known you for the required length of time.

Applying for (and using) a British passport in no way affects your Australian citizenship or your right to hold an Australian passport. As an Australian citizen, you must enter and leave Australia on an Australian passport (the UK doesn't have an analogous rule), but outside Australia you could use whichever passport you chose.