Travel while waiting for citizenship and British passport

Hi everyone,

I am trying to decide when the best time would be to apply for British citizenship and still be able to travel out of the country.
I finally had confirmation that I can travel out of the country while waiting for a decision on my citizenship,
However, I have been informed that once I have my citizenship ceremony I will have to give up  my BRP and then apply for passport separately and this could potentially affect my ability to travel?

I just want to understand the following:

1.Once I have my citizenship ceremony and have no BRP can I travel and come back into the country with my American passport?

2. How long do I have to wait until I get my British passport?

3. When/how do I apply for British passport after the citizenship ceremony. Can I apply before the ceremony to make it go faster?

I am just concerned about being restricted with travel in case I need to visit unwell family in the USA and so need to know if I will be restricted from travel at any point in time while waiting on approval for my citizenship application and getting my British passport.

Could someone please clarify when I can't travel and how long would this period be.

Many thanks!







 
 

Once you have your citizenship ceremony, you are British. So you need to enter the UK with a British passport. You cannot apply for a British passport until you are a British citizen (which happens when you have the ceremony). There is then no waiting time before you can apply for your first British passport.

The British passport will take as long as every other first British passport is taking at the time you apply for it.

Anecdotally, I went immediately from my ceremony to photocopy my naturalisation certificate and then submitted my first passport application.


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Wait times are improving for first passports. They were 16 weeks at one point, then dropped to 10 weeks, and now at 5 weeks.

When you apply, after your application is approved you have THREE MONTHS to attend a citizenship ceremony.  So you can really time that ceremony date around travel and it’s likely passport times will continue to reduce. I wouldn’t be surprised if you applied now, that first passport applications are back to a one week processing time when you are able to apply. 

Thanks everyone!

I am just curious why I can't come in the Uk with my US passport if I travel to the US while waiting for my British passport.

I have traveled to the UK before with a US passport so just wondering since I would be a British citizen by then and will also keep my US passport. Do I need to send my US passport to get my British passport?

Also, I just want to make sure it is not issue having dual citizenship and 2 passports.

Thanks!!!

Thanks everyone!

I am just curious why I can't come in the Uk with my US passport if I travel to the US while waiting for my British passport.

I have traveled to the UK before with a US passport so just wondering since I would be a British citizen by then and will also keep my US passport. Do I need to send my US passport to get my British passport?

Also, I just want to make sure it is not issue having dual citizenship and 2 passports.

Thanks!!!

Someone who enters the country on a US passport is granted a visitor's visa at the border. As a British Citizen, you can't have a British visa.
You can be a dual citizen and hold 2 passports.