A Scottish family returning home from holiday has been denied entry to the UK over a passport rule change for dual nationals.
Lily Rodgers, 11 months, was born in Scotland but has an Austrian passport – the nationality of her father.
Previously, British dual nationals could travel to the UK using their foreign passport. The rules were overhauled in February following the rollout of the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system requiring non-visa visitors to apply for permission to travel before their arrival.
The updated rules required dual nationals travelling to the United Kingdom to use a valid UK or Irish passport, or a valid passport with a certificate of entitlement. Dual nationals cannot get an ETA.
The family were boarding their plane home from Spain when they were flagged.
Mum Sarah Rodgers told the BBC they thought the issue would be sorted out by the help desk and they would return home on another flight.
"It was when they said 'no' that I started to get stressed," she said.
After heading to the consulate the following morning, the family were told it "could take weeks to sort out".
Rodgers said many families with dual national children were unaware of the rule change.
"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," she said.
The family were staying with her partner's relatives in Austria while they waited for Lily's British passport to be approved.
In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said information advising dual nationals to carry the correct documentation had been available since October 2024.
"A substantive communications campaign on the introduction of ETA has been running since 2023.
"This requirement applies to all British citizens, regardless of other nationality, taking the same approach as other countries including the United States, Canada and Australia."
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