Travelling on old passport after British Citizenship Ceremony

[Glorious24]

My wife is waiting for a decision on her british citizenship - we've done the 5yr spouse visa route and she currently has ILR.

My question is - once the BC ceremony is over, I understand she would return her BRP to the Home Office within 5 days or face a fine of up to £1000. We can do that. But she needs to come to Egypt as I've secured work there. Long story short - after the ceremony is over, can she travel on her Pakistani passport to Egypt (i.e. will her Pakistani passport still be valid for travel?) Once here, apply for British Passport and we'll have relatives deliver it to us in Egypt.

I know the other solution is to wait in the UK, once the British passport arrives, she can then travel to Egypt but putting this to one side as it doesn't suit our personal situation.

Please provide a source for your answer so I know it is fact rather than opinion. Thanks in advance.

[contorted_svy]

Hello,

prefacing this post with the fact that I am not an immigration or international law expert!

The answer to your question depends on whether your wife will retain her Pakistani citizenship upon receiving British citizenship. From this website https://dgip.gov.pk/immigration/dual_nationality.php it seems this would be the case, so your wife would retain her Pakistani passport.

To get a final answer maybe you can ask the Pakistan embassy/consulate in the UK or look for official sources from the Pakistan/UK government on whether dual Pakistan/UK citizenship is allowed.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck for your new job.

[alterhase58]

My wife is waiting for a decision on her british citizenship - we've done the 5yr spouse visa route and she currently has ILR.

My question is - once the BC ceremony is over, I understand she would return her BRP to the Home Office within 5 days or face a fine of up to £1000. We can do that. But she needs to come to Egypt as I've secured work there. Long story short - after the ceremony is over, can she travel on her Pakistani passport to Egypt (i.e. will her Pakistani passport still be valid for travel?) Once here, apply for British Passport and we'll have relatives deliver it to us in Egypt.

I know the other solution is to wait in the UK, once the British passport arrives, she can then travel to Egypt but putting this to one side as it doesn't suit our personal situation.

Please provide a source for your answer so I know it is fact rather than opinion. Thanks in advance.

As mentioned above Pakistan allows dual British-Pakistani citizenship. Your Pakistani passport is valid and you can travel with that, however, a carrier will want to see evidence of a UK visa/BRP for the return journey. And also if you try enter the UK with a visa-required foreign passport you need to be prepared to prove you are a British citizen (who cannot be refused entry to the UK), for example show the naturalisation certificate. Ideally get a British passport ASAP. General rule is: enter foreign country with foreign passport, return to UK with British passport.

[Glorious24]

Excellent, thanks. For the return I can have the British passport ready so shouldn't be a problem.

[Ticktack]

Excellent, thanks. For the return I can have the British passport ready so shouldn't be a problem.

I'm not sure how your spouse intends to apply for a British Passport and fly out to Egypt with her Pakistani passport at the same time.

In order to apply for a BP, your foreign passport(s) would also need to be submitted. You can't apply for your first passport from outside the UK either.
Not entirely impossible, but it gets highly complicated (can't stress this enough).
The HO advises that you apply for your first passport before you leave the UK.

You can't have your cake and eat it!