UK Family Denied Entry After Alicante Trip Over Baby's Foreign Passport

A family from Aberdeenshire was refused entry to the UK while trying to return from a holiday in Alicante because their baby did not have the correct passport after a change in the rules for dual nationals.

Eleven-month-old Lily Rodgers was born in Scotland but holds an Austrian passport, the nationality of her father, Philipp, 34. Under previous rules overhauled in February, a British dual national could travel to the UK using their foreign passport.

Lily's mother, Sarah Rodgers, 30, said they could now face a wait of several months while her British passport application is approved. Sarah said Lily's Austrian passport states she was born in Britain, and she offered to show the birth certificate as proof, but officials said it would not suffice.

The couple, who live in Ellon and are also parents to three-year-old Heidi, had their luggage loaded onto the plane. The problem surfaced only during boarding.

Sarah said: "They were talking to each other in Spanish and when they told us we couldn't board we thought it must have been a system failure."

The couple retrieved their luggage and went to the help desk. "We thought that we would miss this flight, but that the help desk would be able to sort out the problem and we would be able to get on another flight," she said. "It was when they said 'no' that I started to get stressed."

It was eight o'clock at night, so they booked into a hotel and were told to visit the consulate in the morning. "I was hopeful they would be able to help but when we got there we were told it could take weeks to sort out," Sarah said.

Since Philipp is from Austria, the family booked a flight to Vienna to stay with his family. "This is terrible but we are so lucky to have family here that we can stay with. I don't know what we would do if we didn't," she said.

Under previous rules, British dual nationals from visa-free countries could enter the UK using a foreign passport. Since February 25, that is no longer allowed under updated entry requirements. They must now present a valid British passport or a digital certificate of entitlement linked to their other passport. Without one of these, they risk denial of boarding or entry to the UK.

The changes tie to the rollout of the ETA system, which requires non-visa visitors to obtain travel permission in advance. Sarah said she wanted others to know this could affect them. "I know lots of people with dual nationality kids and everyone I've spoken to wasn't aware," she said. "The rules say that you only need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) if you aren't British, so we assumed it didn't apply to us. By the definition on the government website, Lily is British, but the proof that shows that isn't accepted."