A teenage girl with dual citizenship is left stranded in Denmark, following the new UK border rules.
After spending a long weekend in Copenhagen, Hanne, a 16-year-old from Sussex, was turned away from boarding her flight back to London. The incident took place on 8th March. The teenager is yet to return home.
On 26th February, the Home Office issued a new law on UK passport rules for dual British citizens. The law was created in a bid to combat the immigration ‘crisis.’ The UK border rules previously stated that a British dual passport holder could go abroad using their foreign passport.
However, the amended legislation states that dual citizenship holders must travel with a physical or digital copy of their British passport. In addition to their second nationality passport. Either will no longer suffice. Thus, people are at high risk of being refused entry back into the UK if they can’t provide both.
The smaller details…
Hanne was on a family trip to Copenhagen with her father, who is British and her mother, who was born in Norway. Ahead of the trip, the teenager had applied for a British passport, but it didn’t arrive in time. As per the previous travelling rules for those with dual citizenship, Hanne’s family didn’t see it as a problem. Especially since she had no issues entering Copenhagen.
Since the incident took place, Hanne has now missed a total of two weeks of school. Both her parents travelled back to the UK as planned. Leaving their teenage daughter unsupervised in a foreign country, alone. Her mother has since visited her to equip her with school supplies.
“We tried to check in on the app, and it allowed me to check in, but not Hanne. When we got to the airport, they wouldn’t let her check in either,” says Hanne’s mother.
