For the past month tens of thousands of dual nationals who are citizens of the UK and another country have faced stress and expense trying to organise travel to Britain. But The Independent can reveal a risk-free route via Ireland – the “Dublin Dodge” – which does not breach any rules.
On 25 February 2026, the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) became mandatory for all non-British and Irish visitors to the UK.
Ministers warned UK dual nationals that they could not travel using an ETA on their other passport – leading many to begin long and frustrating attempts to obtain proof of British citizenship.
The “dormant diaspora” of dual nationals living abroad include children who were born to British parents but have never had a UK passport, as well as older people who have lived in another country for decades and have let their passports lapse.
Until the ETA became mandatory, they could use the passport of their other nationality to travel to the UK.
But the government now insists that they must prove their British citizenship using either a passport or a “certificate of entitlement”, costing £589.
The policy is being enforced by airlines and ferry firms taking travellers to the UK, which expect all non-British and Irish passengers to have an ETA. But UK dual nationals are not supposed to apply for the online permit, which costs £16.
As a last-minute concession, the government said carriers could accept, at their discretion, an expired passport dating from 1989 or later. But there is no certainty that such a document will be accepted, and in many cases dual nationals desperate to travel have sent their in expired British passport as part of the application process.
Cases of British teenagers being stranded abroad by the new rules have been widely reported, including by The Guardian.
But all such stress can be avoided by flying instead to Dublin and taking advantage of the Common Travel Area (ETA), which allows travel without passports between Ireland and the UK for citizens of either country.
A dual national with a passport or identity card from a nation in the European Union or wider Schengen area can freely travel to Ireland. They can then board a bus from Dublin airport to Belfast – which run about three times an hour, taking around two hours. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, there are no frontier checks at the border south of Newry. On crossing the Ireland-Northern Ireland frontier, the British citizen is simply availing of their right to be present in the UK.
Once in Belfast, the traveller can then travel on to Great Britain by ferry or air. No passports are required for making this journey. Airlines may ask for photographic ID for the journey across the Irish Sea from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
Aer Lingus Regional, which flies from Belfast City to many British airports, will allow a bus pass, a work ID or an international student identity card.
An alternative for travellers to Wales and much of England is even simpler: go to Dublin port, seven miles from the Irish capital’s airport, and board a ferry to Holyhead. Irish Ferries allows a wide range of photographic ID, or – from under 18s – a birth certificate.
On the return journey from the UK to their country of residence, the passenger will simply use their foreign travel document as identification – and proof that they will be accepted at their destination. There is no need to retrace the route through the island of Ireland.
For passport holders from non-EU nations, the same principle applies – as long as they are entitled to visa-free travel to Ireland. Because the republic is not part of the EU entry-exit system, there will be no need to exit via Ireland or a Schengen area nation.
The Independent asked the Home Office to confirm that no law would be breached by a British dual national using the “Dublin Dodge”. Officials said the government would not comment on “hypothetical routes into the UK”.
Addressing the House of Lords in February, the Home Office minister Lord Hanson said: “The introduction of electronic travel authorisations – ETAs, as they are known – is part of plans to modernise and digitise the UK’s border and immigration system by providing a much clearer picture of who intends to travel to the UK for short periods. ETAs will enable a more targeted approach to border control, strengthening security and ensuring a smoother travel experience.”
Zeena Luchowa, partner at the law firm Laura Devine Immigration, said: “I can see why it appears to offer a straightforward solution. British citizens have an unqualified legal right to enter the UK. The problem we are seeing is mostly practical, at the point of departure, not at the border.
“British citizens are not subject to immigration control under the Immigration Act 1971, and there are no routine checks on the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Entering the UK via Dublin and travelling onwards within the Common Travel Area is not, in itself, unlawful.”
But, she said: “The absence of routine CTA border checks does not mean there are no checks at all. Ad hoc or intelligence-led checks can still occur, so this workaround does not fully remove the practical barriers faced by British dual nationals.
“Subject to an individual’s particular circumstances, we would likely not routinely advise clients on this sort of workaround based on the practical risks and Home Office guidance, and where it is possible to do so, would rather suggest obtaining a British passport or certificate of entitlement to the right of abode.
“Each case shall of course vary, and the solution will also depend on timing and other sensitivities.”
Ms Luchowa also warned that the impending EU Etias system “could create a similar dynamic for Schengen travel” – with dual nationals who are citizens of both the UK and a Schengen area country being unable to obtain the online permit on a British passport.
The “Dublin Dodge” does not work for passengers who are routed via British airports such as London Heathrow to the Irish capital. Arriving travellers who are connecting to Ireland must pass through the UK Border.
Read more: What the EU entry-exit system means for your travels
