UK family turned away over new dual nationality rules

By the Editorial Team · Wednesday, June 24, 2026

A British mother and her two young children were denied boarding on a flight to the UK due to new dual nationality travel rules requiring specific documentation for entry. This case highlights the challenges dual-national families living abroad face with costly and time-consuming processes to comply with the updated regulations.

A British mother was denied boarding on a flight to the UK with her two young children due to recently implemented dual nationality travel regulations, highlighting difficulties faced by some British citizens living abroad under the new rules.

Colette Bjorn-Alderson, 33, was scheduled to travel from Copenhagen to Manchester on Monday to attend a wedding in Wales. She was stopped at check-in by Norwegian Airlines after officials determined that she and her children did not possess the correct documentation to enter the United Kingdom. Bjorn-Alderson was traveling with her six-week-old son Rowan and her 23-month-old son Fearn, both of whom hold UK citizenship and Danish passports.

The new regulations, effective since February, require British citizens to present either a valid British passport or a certificate of entitlement to enter the UK. The certificate costs £589 and must be obtained in advance. Bjorn-Alderson said that the rules had not been clearly communicated to British nationals residing in Denmark, complicating her efforts to comply.

In April, Bjorn-Alderson had successfully traveled with her elder son using Irish low-cost airline Ryanair. She explained that she had intended to apply for the necessary travel documents for Rowan after his birth but was unable to complete the process in time. She noted that the application for a British passport can take up to three months, excluding postage, while certificates of entitlement require approximately eight weeks and depend on having a birth certificate. Additionally, to acquire the certificate, she would have needed to send away the children’s Danish passports temporarily, leaving them without identification.

Bjorn-Alderson, who has lived in Denmark for five years and works as a yoga instructor, is married to Rasmus, a 38-year-old Danish carpenter. While the children hold dual citizenship, her husband can travel to the UK with an electronic travel authorisation costing £20.

After being denied boarding, Bjorn-Alderson reported having to send multiple copies of documents to the Home Office in an attempt to resolve the issue but was ultimately told her family could not fly. She described the experience as distressing, particularly while attending to the needs of her newborn and toddler amid the ongoing administrative difficulties. She estimated that the situation had caused her to incur costs exceeding £1,000.

The Home Office declined to comment on the specifics of her case but stated that passport applications for a child’s first British passport made in Denmark typically take four weeks to process. The incident has drawn attention to the challenges some British citizens face navigating new border controls, particularly families with dual nationality living abroad.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.