This page was updated this week and might be useful for EU people travelling to the UK.
4 Likes
An extract:
For British Nationals with an expired British Passport and valid French Passport, you will need to apply for an ETA.
If you or your children have dual nationality and decide to travel with a French Passport, you/they will need to apply for an ETA.
If you have a valid British passport, you will not need to apply for an ETA.
The ETA permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.
Thanks for the update, @JohnH. It’s good news for me as my Irish citizenship means I don’t need the ETA 
1 Like
Funny how all the people (i.e Brexiteers) whinging about EES and ETIAS never seem to mention (or even be aware of) the identical British scheme.
And have forgotten that Britain, when a member of the club, voted for such a beast.
2 Likes
I don’t see what all the fuss is about myself. ETA, ESTA, ETIAS are reasonable systems that help to prevent people who would blatantly not be admitted to the relevant country from wasting their time making the journey in the first place. Let’s face it, compared to all the aggro of arranging the travel itself, the electronic authorisation is a doddle. Just fill in the form, pay the comparatively insignificant fee, and a few minutes later it’s all sorted. Took me all of about 8 minutes to obtain an ETA for my spouse.
As for the EES, well once they manage to get it working correctly then it will probably actually speed things up at a lot of ports of entry. Bound to be some teething troubles of course. Rather similar to the ‘Parafe’ scheme which I found worked well when available.
Agreed - and way easier than getting five-year Global Entry for speedier passage through security/immigration in the USA, which costs £42 to get a clearance from MI5, plus $100 (non-refundable) for the US end of things, then go to the US Embassy in London for a two minute interview! 
And yes hopefully it will make getting through the border controls into the EU easier and quicker in future.
Having just come via Dieppe, I have a little tip for us UK travellers. Queue up behind the French cars coming back, ok the booth will be on the wrong side but as the French dont need passports stamped that queue moves a lot faster than the other with UK cars in it. We had 3 cars travelling on the wrong day and a van that took ages to clear imigration and it was too late for me to jump to the other queue, people further back were able to and I was last but one leaving Dieppe 
1 Like
Being lazy, do peeps traveling with a British PP need this going into the UK & coming back into the EU on a French PP need this ETA?
Short answer — No. 
1 Like
Question for the forum.. there is now box on the ETA application form that asks if you have every held a British passport. If you tick it, it comes back saying that you cannot apply for an ETA. Anyone else encountered this? Has anyone with an expired British passport recently travelled to the UK on another nation’s passport?
Can’t help with your specific query I’m afraid but presumably what they are driving at is that British citizens don’t need to fill out an ETA.
More info here (possibly) https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10344/
You can do that, per the notes on the linked page. You might also be able to enter the UK with an expired UK passport.
GoK knows what you do if you have revoked UK citizenship (as e.g. you’d have to do if taking up German citizenship post Brexit)
2 Likes
Yes, I found this page as well after I messaged. I couldn’t tell if they allowing this during the transition, or this would remain possible (with the inevitable border slowdown / interview etc).
I have just realised that I have already done this for my daughter in June. We didn’t tick the box, we didn’t declare her dual nationality, and she travelled to the UK as an EU visitor instead of a UK national. No problems at the border at all. Don’t ask, don’t tell.
It feels like they are just obliging UK citizens to refresh their passports - or pay the 500 GBP difference for a certificate of entitlement. Everyone is going to take former option.
I just got emailed the update yesterday and the advice on the UK government’s France page is pretty explicit that it needs to be a valid passport.
Dual nationals
When returning to the UK, British citizens must carry a valid British passport or certificate of entitlement
1 Like
That is pretty black and white. If you follow the link on that page to the one for dual nationals, it appears that using an ETA for UK citizens travelling on a foreign passport + ETA is allowed during this transition period
Isn’t it advisable to have an unexpired passport? 
unless one lives in the UK and never intends to travel across borders 
A few years back, I met a lovely 89 year old Brit.
Her first trip abroad, first passport, first flight in a plane, first house-fire …
first trip to CHU
first time for so many things during that memorable holiday in France.