Can you leave the UK on a non-UK passport if you're eligible for one?
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?
Best Answer
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!
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