Couple fear new passport rules may force family separation

A British man and a Danish woman fear they will be separated from their young children in Copenhagen airport because of new border control rules on British dual nationals.

- Lisa O’Carroll

James Scrivens and his wife, Sara, who live in Wales, were visiting relatives in Norway and Denmark during the school holidays, and learned about the new Home Office rules only while they were abroad.

Under the rules, dual nationals risk being denied boarding if they do not present a British passport, current or expired, or a “certificfate of entitlement” costing £589 attached to the passport of their second nationality, to prove their right to enter the UK.

Yesterday the migration minister Mike Tapp dismissed as “absurd” claims that the government had failed to properly communicate the new rules.

Scrivens is hoping the airline will show clemency when they turn up in Copenhagen today, but says if it does not, their children may have to stay with their grandparents while at least one parent returns home to apply for their first British passports.

His case highlights the human cost of a rule the Home Office introduced without effective communication to dual citizens around the world.