Last-minute reprieve for UK-bound travellers after 'absurd' new entry rule

The UK Government has granted a temporary reprieve for dual citizens after widespread backlash over its new entry rules.

From February 25 dual British/Irish citizens must enter the UK on a valid British or Irish passport or have a Certificate of Entitlement.

If a traveller qualifies as a British citizen - even unknowingly - they cannot use the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and must travel on a British passport instead.

But after widespread confusion the UK Government has now announced dual citizens who possess an expired British passport (issued no earlier than 1989) may use it alongside a valid Australian passport to prove their citizenship at the boarding gate.

However, Australian Travel Industry Association CEO Dean Long cautioned against complacency saying the final decision to allow a passenger to board rests entirely with individual airlines.

He described the move as a "welcome relief, but it is not a 'blank cheque' for travellers".

"Any discrepancy in your digital or physical paperwork can still lead to a denied boarding or entry into the UK, resulting in you being put on a plane back to Australia and having to foot the bill for the flight," he said.

Travel agents say they have been inundated by Aussie travellers who were blindsided by changes to entry requirements to the UK before the latest reprieve.

In one instance, an elderly couple preparing to fly from Adelaide to the UK recently discovered they may be considered UK citizens because their parents were born there despite having lived their entire lives in Australia and never holding UK passports.

They now face either applying for UK passports with processing delays or paying to formally renounce citizenship.

Another agent is assisting a Melbourne woman born in 1971 whose father was born in Cork in Ireland in 1943, raising questions about Irish citizenship, British subject status, and historic nationality law changes.

Anna McMurtrie, the owner of Wentworth Travel in Sydney's Double Bay, labelled changes to entry for UK passport holders as "absurd".

Ms McMurtrie said some clients with family in the UK are now facing unexpected barriers to travel.

"We do have clients whose parents in the UK are not well, and because they have UK passports that are currently expired, it means if something happens, they or their children may be unable to travel and could be left behind given the situation," she said.

Adding to frustrations, British passports and Certificates of Entitlement (COE) can take between three and six weeks to process.

"I just don't understand why they have introduced this requirement," she said.

"The bureaucratic systems and the people that implement these impractical situations are making life unnecessarily difficult.

"At the end of the day, tourism injects a lot of money into economies and employs a huge number of people in every country."

Ms McMurtrie also urged younger travellers to be mindful of criminal records, which could affect their ability to enter certain countries under the ETA.

"The ETA process itself is simple, but young people need to be careful about criminal records they might have, including DUIs," she said.