Entering the UK from outside the EU using a German ID card

[basel_jaber]

Hi
My wife is German and her passport is with the home office for my residency application. She is travelling to Jordan and she will be entering Jordan using her Jordanian passport but she wants to enter the UK when she gets back using her German ID card. Is that possible or does she need a passport.

I am aware that you can enter the UK using EU ID cards https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control/be ... for-the-uk
However this does not state whether its travellers from within the EU or does it also include travellers outside the europe?

I appreciate your help.

[secret.simon]

If your wife is a German citizen, she can enter the UK on her German ID Card, no matter where in the world she flies in from. She may however spend more time at the immigration counter, as immigration officers are more suspicious of ID Cards as compared to passports.

[ALKB]

If your wife is a German citizen, she can enter the UK on her German ID Card, no matter where in the world she flies in from. She may however spend more time at the immigration counter, as immigration officers are more suspicious of ID Cards as compared to passports.

I frequently travel to the UK, sometimes using my German passport, sometimes my German national ID card.

I have never experienced any noticeable difference in either treatment or speed of processing at the immigration counter.

[secret.simon]

I frequently travel to the UK, sometimes using my German passport, sometimes my German national ID card.

I have never experienced any noticeable difference in either treatment or speed of processing at the immigration counter.

That was my personal, anecdotal observation. I've observed that ID Card checks are more thorough than passport checks across Western Europe (observed at German and Italian airports and at the Calais crossing). It is not much, say 20-30 seconds for a passport check versus 2-3 minutes for an ID card check, but it is noticeable when the queue stops moving suddenly and the immigration officer spends time chatting to the person at the counter.

None of this detracts from the original answer to the question; that a German citizen can enter the UK on her German ID Card.