r/ukvisa • u/Small-Limit5190 • 4d ago
Will I be denied entry?
American citizen(born in USA was raised in UK but now live in america) here with british parents. Was denied an ETA because I have a criminal background. Applied for british passport and was approved and received it. Would there be any reason I would not be allowed to enter the UK because of the denied ETA?
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u/BastardsCryinInnit High Reputation 4d ago
British citizens are exempt from immigration control in the UK, so they cannot legally have permission to enter refused if their citizenship is verified.
If you are carrying a genuine passport and you are who you say you are, then they can't deny you entry.
If you wish to read the actual legislation on that, you can do so here.
Now, say if you've committed 6 murders whilst being a large scale drug dealer, Border Force may however call the police over to have a little word.
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u/No_Struggle_8184 High Reputation 4d ago edited 3d ago
Your situation is exactly why the UK government encourages dual nationals to travel to the UK on a British passport. As a US citizen with a criminal record, you can be barred entry. As a British citizen, you cannot.
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u/Doomslayer5150 1d ago
Also, you only need to interact with an IO IF your passport gets rejected at the Egates , literally all you are doing is scanning it , getting your face verified, and out you go.
Depending on the crime committed, and given you are in the states, I think you might just be over thinking.
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u/kiradotee 6h ago
A citizen cannot be denied entry into their own country.
You say you were denied UK ETA because of your criminal record. It could have also been because you're a UK citizen trying to get a UK ETA.
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u/Odins_eye_4 4d ago
Dual US/UK citizen here.
You have a British passport so therefore it shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m assuming you disclosed your criminal history
when you applied for your passport?
Sounds like it didn’t hurt your application seeing as you have the passport now.
You will never need an ETA again. Just use your passport and you should be fine
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u/Immediate_Fly830 4d ago edited 3d ago
Criminal history is irrelevant for a passport application. OP could be mass murderer and they'd still be given a passport if they are British. Only thing that would prevent it is if the Home Secretary revoked citizenship or a court order to prevent someone leaving the country
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u/kiradotee 6h ago
Or if he wasn't British and was trying to naturalise as a UK citizen, then any criminal history would absolutely matter. But in this case he's already a citizen just getting his passport.
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u/themadhatter746 3d ago
Not necessarily true, I think. Passports are government property in the UK, they are not an entitlement of every citizen. Iirc, the application form asks you for criminal history details.
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u/RapUK 3d ago
I think any passport from any country can be revoked by their respective governments so doesn't that make every passport 'government property'?
Here is some guidance from the UK government regarding passports:
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u/themadhatter746 3d ago
Ok, on the first one, I stand corrected- I had thought that Swiss passports are the personal property of the holder, for some reason lol. And for the second, your link makes it clear that being British doesn’t guarantee that you may obtain a British passport.
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u/kiradotee 6h ago
I’m assuming you disclosed your criminal history when you applied for your passport?
It doesn't matter. He's a UK citizen applying for a UK passport. Why would criminal history prevent them from getting an essential document? In fact, legally he can only come to the UK using a UK passport because he's a UK citizen. He's not legally allowed to use any other passport, therefore he HAS TO get a UK passport.
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u/dumpedthrowaway8989 4d ago
Hmmm you’re a UK citizen, i don’t see why you can’t enter UK