I have a fairly convoluted situation:

I'm a British national currently resident in Bermuda. I have a Brazilian passport and also up until recently a British passport.

Earlier this month I lost my British passport while on holiday in Canada. This weekend I also have a trip back home (planned long ago) to the UK for 3-4 days.

The British consulate in Canada gave me emergency travel documents entitling me to travel to the UK via Bermuda, so that I could make the UK trip (since full UK passports take 6 weeks to reissue and there is no consulate in Bermuda). I'm now in Bermuda, half-way through my documents' journey. On them I can reenter the UK this week, but my issue is how I'm going to get back having now discovered the 1-day premium service for renewing passports is in fact not available for replacing lost passports and one cannot obtain more emergency travel documents in the UK, contrary to the advice of the consulate in Canada.

After fairly extensively analyzing my options I've deduced they're fairly limited. Extending the length of my trip in the UK is not desirable due to possible tax implications. However, one potential solution I've not been able to verify is whether I could travel into the UK on these emergency documents, then leave back for Bermuda on the Brazilian passport instead.

I know you can't enter the UK on a non-UK passport if you're eligible for one - but what about leave? Would Bermuda accept my Brazilian passport? Might it being a British overseas territory complicate things?

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    "...I know you can't enter the UK on a non-UK passport if you're eligible for one...", where did you hear that lie? It's probably confused with/cross-wired to the American rules, but certainly not the British rules. – Gayot Fow Mar 29 '16 at 17:51
  • I agree with @gayot-fow - I know two non-British nationals who won the right to a British passport but not had the money to get one. They travel on their host country passport and carry some piece of paper from immigration that gives them the "right to leave to remain". – fiprojects Mar 30 '16 at 17:19

British citizens are allowed to enter and leave the UK on any passport they choose (as long as they can establish a right to enter of course).

There is a question as to whether Bermuda will allow you in on a UK emergency travel document, or on your Brazilian passport. Presumably you somehow got back from Canada to Bermuda without a UK passport, so the same approach should work coming from the UK.

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    Indeed, I can confirm that I have entered the UK on a Canadian passport multiple times, including times that I told the interviewing officer that I was born in the UK (a piece of information available in my Canadian passport), and while it gets you a glare, you get let in. – Kate Gregory Mar 29 '16 at 20:11
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    Like Kate, I've done this both ways dozens of times, with the Officer well aware that I was a British citizen. I didn't even get a glare. – DJClayworth Mar 30 '16 at 1:59
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    Does the fact that the asker says they are a British national rather than a British citizen change things at all? "don’t have the automatic right to live or work in the UK " is the item that prompts my query. – AakashM Mar 30 '16 at 7:57
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    @AakashM, the rules themselves are explicit and have the various distinctions listed. There are also situations where an individual is required to use a different passport when exiting. – Gayot Fow Mar 30 '16 at 20:29

I believe it is a non-issue. Arrive early at the airport to give any exit immigration checks time to do their thing. You might find there are no checks in which case, bring a book. Bring all evidence that you have that you lost your UK passport and that a new one is in the works as it will help support any Q&A you go thru (if you go thru at all).

The Bermuda Government website has an FAQ that explicitly says you can pick up a 180 day visa on arrival. The passport will allow you to identify yourself to a Bermudan immigration official and your Bermudan residents card allows you to stay. http://www.gov.bm.knowledgebase.co/article/as-a-brazilian-citizen-do-i-need-a-tourist-visa-for-a-5-days-stay-in-bermuda-998.html

From this point forward, until you get your UK passport replaced, travel on your Brazilian passport.

Best of luck!

  • What exit immigration checks? The UK doesn't have any! (Airlines and Eurostar collect details and pass it on, that's it) – Gagravarr Mar 30 '16 at 20:57
  • Some gates (destinations) have security checks to ensure everyone has the correct paperwork to enter the country you are visiting. (I know a Canadian Citizen with residency in Europe who had their paperwork checked/questioned at LHR while leaving the UK). Transporting illegal immigrants across borders within the EU (not just Schengen) is illegal. Anyone (airline or private person) caught doing so can be fined and is also responsible for returning the illegal immigrant back to their last point of departure. – fiprojects Mar 31 '16 at 6:49

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