llessur Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 I know this question has been asked before but I'm just trying to see if anyone's had any recent experience of travelling to the UK using only their Australian passport? I now have dual UK/Australian citizenship but my UK passport has expired and given the fact it's soon to be withered down from a 28 nationality passport to a single nationality passport I can't really see the point in renewing in when my Aussie passport will be fine for my travel needs in the future. I'm flying back for a 2 week trip in January with a return ticket - presumably I'll be fine entering as an Aussie tourist on my Aussie passport? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Of course you are, like any other Aussie would be. Although really for the cost I would keep the UK passport renewed. It is really easy online, cheaper than an Aussie one and much harder if you let it expire for a number of years to get a new one, they want you to go inperson etc. And who knows in the future....... once every 10 years? Is it really such a hard thing to do? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share Posted November 21, 2019 12 minutes ago, rammygirl said: Of course you are, like any other Aussie would be. Although really for the cost I would keep the UK passport renewed. It is really easy online, cheaper than an Aussie one and much harder if you let it expire for a number of years to get a new one, they want you to go inperson etc. And who knows in the future....... once every 10 years? Is it really such a hard thing to do? True, but it's $200 I'd rather not have to spend for a two week trip at this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 If you’re only going for 2 weeks no you don’t need to renew your uk passport. They’ll just stamp you with a visitor visa and expect you to leave. But I concur - just renew it and keep it current, you never know when you might need it. Only half the price of an Aussie one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 On 22/11/2019 at 02:49, Quoll said: If you’re only going for 2 weeks no you don’t need to renew your uk passport. They’ll just stamp you with a visitor visa and expect you to leave. But I concur - just renew it and keep it current, you never know when you might need it. Only half the price of an Aussie one! Why would you need it? I've never replaced ours since they expired over 10 years ago and have since traveled to the UK and Europe on our Aussie ones without so much as a second look. Cal x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikerBill Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 Our UK passports expired 3 years after arriving here. They were about to expire when I needed to return to England urgently and at short notice. It turned out to be faster, cheaper and more convenient to get Australian citizenship and an Aussie passport than it was to renew our UK passports. That was in 2005 and we haven't held a UK passport since. A bit weird being questioned every time we land back in the UK about what I am doing there, how long I am staying, where I am staying etc. Particularly as the person doing the questioning is clearly not born in the UK. But getting back to Oz and racing through customs makes up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 8 hours ago, calNgary said: Why would you need it? I've never replaced ours since they expired over 10 years ago and have since traveled to the UK and Europe on our Aussie ones without so much as a second look. Cal x It would have been difficult - well, more of a hassle for me if I’d done that, I was only going for 6 weeks that ended up being 8 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 12 hours ago, BikerBill said: Our UK passports expired 3 years after arriving here. They were about to expire when I needed to return to England urgently and at short notice. It turned out to be faster, cheaper and more convenient to get Australian citizenship and an Aussie passport than it was to renew our UK passports. That was in 2005 and we haven't held a UK passport since. A bit weird being questioned every time we land back in the UK about what I am doing there, how long I am staying, where I am staying etc. Particularly as the person doing the questioning is clearly not born in the UK. But getting back to Oz and racing through customs makes up for it. No longer the case, now very easy to renew UK passports from Aus and cheaper than the Aus one. Citizenship takes months (even years recently) from application to ceremony's. New UK passport arrived within 3 weeks. Honestly for the cost, spread out over 10 years it is so easy now, letting it lapse for 5 years or more it is harder to do. For some countries it gives us the choice as UK passports allow visa free entry to some countries the Aus one doesn’t and vice versa. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 (edited) Thanks everyone for your replies! I'll probably renew at some point in the not-too-distant future but at the moment, given the last-minute nature of my trip, I could do without the cost and hassle of doing it now. Glad to hear others have had no problems using just their Aussie passport, will be one less thing for me to worry about Edited November 24, 2019 by llessur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 8 minutes ago, llessur said: I'll probably renew at some point in the not-too-distant future but at the moment, given the last-minute nature of my trip, I could do without the cost and hassle of doing it now. As others have said, if you let the British passport expire, it will be ten times the hassle to renew it, compared to doing it now. So really the choice is, do I save the money and cop all the extra headaches, or do I go the easy route and pay the money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 My passport already expired a few months ago but the online renewal system still says I can do it as a renew rather than a new application. I can't find any info about how long that grace period lasts - anyone know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 3 hours ago, llessur said: My passport already expired a few months ago but the online renewal system still says I can do it as a renew rather than a new application. I can't find any info about how long that grace period lasts - anyone know? Think it is 3 or even 5 years so you can leave it a while. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 Awesome, will get round to it at some point I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markb28 Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 Australian passports are now accepted at the UK ePassport/smartgates so there is no speed benefit to travelling on a UK passport any longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llessur Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 Just in case anyone else has the same question - I can confirm that there were no problems at all in me travelling on just an Aussie passport. I passed straight through the smart gates at Gatwick without a hitch. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.