Urgent Travel information

[Hellopino]

Hi guys
Will really appreciate if someone can respond urgently. I have recently been granted citizenship but I have not applied for passport yet and I have to travel urgently to Pakistan. Can I travel on Pakistani passport with BRP. On website it says return BRP within 5 days will they allow me back in uk.

[CULLINAN]

Hi guys
Will really appreciate if someone can respond urgently. I have recently been granted citizenship but I have not applied for passport yet and I have to travel urgently to Pakistan. Can I travel on Pakistani passport with BRP. On website it says return BRP within 5 days will they allow me back in uk.

Have you attended your ceremony or only received the approval?

You only become British when you attend the ceremony. You can travel on your Pakistani passport and BRP before that. However, if you have attended your ceremony, your ILR BRP is invalid now and you need to return it within 5 days of attending the ceremony. You can only travel on a British Passport then.

[Hellopino]

Thanks for reply. What are the consequences if someone travels despite then. As website says “
Travelling to and from the UK
Once you have a British passport you must use this to enter the UK.

If you do not want a British passport you can apply for a certificate of entitlement instead.

You cannot enter the UK using your BRP or certificate of British citizenship.“

[Zerubbabel]

They will probably take away the BRP from you at the border when you are back to the UK. You may also get fined but usually they just take away the BRP.

[Hellopino]

Will they let me enter. ?

[CULLINAN]

Will they let me enter. ?

As long as you can make your way to the UK border, you may risk a fine or confiscation of ILR BRP, but as long as you can produce your naturalisation certificate, they should let you in with some extra checks and delays at the UK border.

[Hellopino]

Thank you both. You are wonderful. Replied on urgent basis and at least I have some peace now.

Cheers !

[Zerubbabel]

Will they let me enter. ?

You are British!!! British authorities will let you enter the UK no matter what! Even if you come to the border without any passport, they will sort you out and let you in.

However, they won't be nice with you and expect a delay. But eventually, they will let you go. They have no other choice.

[CULLINAN]

Only if you make to the UK border first. If you are denied boarding the flight because your ILR BRP is not valid at the Pakistan airport, then you will have problems. I am not sure if ILR BRP will flag up as invalid at the Pakistani airport though.

[seagul]

https://right-to-work.service.gov.uk/prove/brp-question

A BRP card can easily be checked from above website and the same should know to airport authorities including airline staff.

[CULLINAN]

Note, the above link is not a guarantee to check the validity of the BRP. It does not work for all plus this can take sometime to get updated also. If you fly to Pakistan believing on the above link and then it gets updated on a later date, you are stuck.

[seagul]

For a large swathe of applicants, their BRP details have been updating quite briskly even upon approval while waiting for the new BRP (maybe during current epidemic it doesn't always be the case for some) . Therefore, the travel during such fluctuant circumstances should ideally be abstained and also all international airports now have got enhanced security measures alongside with internal secretive sources to confirm the authenticity of passports/BRP Cards.

[CULLINAN]

The BRP update in this case is NOT when ILR is approved. This is in case when OP has attended the ceremony and is British now.

[seagul]

I have recently been granted citizenship but I have not applied for passport yet

Not sure what the OP says otherwise at later, but at the moment the only thing is implicitly pouring from above is that, the OP has attended the ceremony but haven't yet applied the British passport and, therefore, my response is only aligning to this particular situation only.

[CULLINAN]

Applying for a British passport or not is meaningless in this case. The BRP is invalid once you attend the ceremony and become British.
The “prove to work right link” quoted above does not cater for OP’s case.

[seagul]

Above link is not just for checking the right of work rather can easily hint about the validity of the BRP card too. Personally checked that in past and that is why can said that for sure.

[Moa7]

If OP has received their British certificate, why do they still have their ILR BRP?? That's illegal! The BRP needs to be returned within 5 days of receiving the certificate!

OP needs to follow the rules of Britain that they are now a citizen of, they have taken an oath to abide by the rules of the land and not violate immigration laws!

[Hellopino]

Thanks for all members for their valuable input. I have attended the ceremony and got citizenship certificate but not applied for passport yet. I had to travel immediately due to some emergency in a family. I have checked through this link my BRP is still active and showing status for work. I didn’t realise that it will be against law and I had to apply straight away. I thought I could apply when I come back which I was wrong.

Now my only concern is when I come back

[Moa7]

Thanks for all members for their valuable input. I have attended the ceremony and got citizenship certificate but not applied for passport yet. I had to travel immediately due to some emergency in a family. I have checked through this link my BRP is still active and showing status for work. I didn’t realise that it will be against law and I had to apply straight away. I thought I could apply when I come back which I was wrong.

Now my only concern is when I come back

Against the law would be:
1) Not returning ILR BRP within 5 days of receiving your citizenship certificate
2) Travelling on an invalid ILR BRP when you are now a British citizen (you cannot be a British citizen and an ILR holder at the same time)

I didn't mean not applying for a passport is against the law

[Hellopino]

Thanks. I have checked that my BRP is still active. What I understand from this is, until unless I sent them back with the note that I am naturalised, it will still be active. If I apply for my passport from Pakistan , the appointment I get is after one month. Shall I come back and apply from Uk if they let me comeback on BRP or shall I apply from Pakistan which off course will take longer. Bit confused about this. Any further suggestion or advise please.

[CULLINAN]

Thanks. I have checked that my BRP is still active. What I understand from this is, until unless I sent them back with the note that I am naturalised, it will still be active. If I apply for my passport from Pakistan , the appointment I get is after one month. Shall I come back and apply from Uk if they let me comeback on BRP or shall I apply from Pakistan which off course will take longer. Bit confused about this. Any further suggestion or advise please.

Applying British Passport from Pakistan could go against you as your future intentions to live in UK could be questioned. You risk your British citizenship being revoked too.

[jgreen6123]

Applying British Passport from Pakistan could go against you as your future intentions to live in UK could be questioned. You risk your British citizenship being revoked too.

This whole story stinks. I suggest this is not an "emergency travel to Palistan" and you did not simply "forget" to return your BRP. You would deserve to be deprived of yiur citizenship as you clearly have no regard to the law of this land.

[Hellopino]

There is no need to be sarcastic. If you don’t have few good words then please keep quite or ignore my post.

Thanks