You have until February 25 to make sure you are prepared
The Home Office has issued travel guidance to over a million Brits ahead of a significant rule change coming in just three weeks. Latest figures reveal that approximately 1.26 million Brits currently possess dual nationality.
From February 25, 2026, dual British citizens will require a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement to enter the UK. The Home Office cautioned that airlines will be verifying travellers possess the correct documentation.
This follows modifications to the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which individuals will need if they don’t require a visa for brief visits of up to six months, or lack existing UK immigration status. From February 2025, eligible visitors without an ETA won’t be permitted to board their transport and cannot lawfully journey to the UK.
In an Instagram announcement, the Home Office stated: “For dual citizens coming back home to the UK. From 25 February 2026, you will need a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement to travel to the UK.
“Airlines will check you have permission to travel before departure. This change supports the UK’s move to digital permission to travel and strengthens border security.”
Travel guru Simon Calder branded the alterations as ‘extremely significant’. In a clip shared on the Independent’s Instagram page, he explained: “If you happen to be a dual national, which means that you’re lucky enough to be a citizen of both the UK and another country, then there is a very significant change to passport rules that’s happening on the 25th of February.
“Let me tell you what it is. At the moment, suppose you are a British citizen but you choose to live abroad. You’ve got a foreign passport. You’re perfectly entitled with that passport to come and go from the UK on short stays to see family, to be a tourist, or to go on a business trip. But from the 25th of February, that will all change.
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“From that date, everybody who is not British or Irish has to have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to come to the UK. And you might think, ‘Well, that’s alright, I’ve got a French, or an American, or an Australian passport; I’ll just get my ETA through that’. But not so fast.
“The British government says that if you have British citizenship-which might be because you were born here but you then moved abroad, or because you got it through descendancy-then you have to have one of two things in order to travel legally to the UK: Ideally, it will be a British passport. If you don’t have one of those, well, I suggest you get one quickly.
“Or, it could be a Certificate of Right of Abode in the UK. But since that is going to cost you nearly £600 and it’s going to run out whenever your foreign passport runs out, then I urge you to try to get a British passport if you’re planning to travel to the UK anytime soon.”
The right of abode that Mr Calder refers to means you’re permitted to live or work in Britain without facing any immigration restrictions. If you hold the right of abode, there’s no requirement for a visa or ETA when entering the UK.
There’s also no cap on how long you can remain in the country.