They were shocked to find they could no longer visit British family and friends without first applying for a UK passport; the last time they used one was 50 years ago. From the end of February, they cannot use their New Zealand passport, as UK citizens will no longer be eligible for ETAs.<\/p>\n
Vince, who asked that his surname not be published, did not believe it when he first heard the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, no, that\u2019s a load of absolute rubbish. There\u2019s no way they would do that. There\u2019s no way they would penalise me just because I am British. So then I did some research and it is definite that on the 25th of February if you\u2019re a dual citizen and you\u2019re born in Britain<\/a>, then you have to have a British passport.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you as a Kiwi [born in NZ] wanted to go to Britain, no problem at all \u2013 just use your Kiwi passport.\u201d<\/p>\n It put British citizens in a worse position in their own country than visa-waiver travellers \u2013 such as New Zealand-born citizens using ETAs, he said.<\/p>\n His shock at the cost was matched by his outrage at the bureaucracy involved \u2013 including finding a UK passport holder to confirm his identity, form-filling, the possibility of an in-person interview at the embassy in Wellington, and having to post his New Zealand passport.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to send the passport, which I didn\u2019t, you have to send a photocopy of every page. And they make the point that even if the pages are blank, you\u2019ve got to send a photocopy. So I sent 42 pages, 41 of which were blank. Isn\u2019t that fantastic? So, yeah, this is bureaucracy gone mad.\u201d<\/p>\n Vince considered whether he could get around the rule by hoping authorities assumed he was New Zealand-born \u2013 but then realised his NZ passport reveals he was born in the English city of Coventry.<\/p>\n The wait for a new British passport would be worrying for people with travel already booked or who had an emergency, he said.<\/p>\n A new passport seemed a better option than an alternative the UK government is offering \u2013 a \u201ccertificate of entitlement\u201d costing \u00a3589\/$1373 compared to \u00a394.50\/$220 for an adult passport \u2013 but it is still much more than an ETA (\u00a316\/$37 for two years), and a lot more work.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until now, it\u2019s cost me around about $600, copious amounts of form filling in, and now we\u2019re still waiting to see what else they want. It has to go by special delivery \u2013 there is only one way the post office will accept old passports and that costs $121. Absolutely ridiculous. And we\u2019re in our 80s, we\u2019ll probably only ever go [to England] one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Absolute chaos\u2019<\/p>\n Another Briton \u2013 who asked only to be identified as Jane for privacy reasons \u2013 said her dual-citizen husband had lived in New Zealand for about 18 years. He was able to travel back with an ETA last time he went, and found out through social media he needs a passport the next time he returns.<\/p>\n They are worried that others who are making urgent trips to see old or dying relatives will find out too late about the rule change, costs and potential timeframes. Hundreds of thousands of people would be affected among Commonwealth countries and elsewhere<\/a>, Jane said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what\u2019s happening to so many expats, not just in New Zealand, but all over the world. They\u2019re basically being forced into this because essentially, they\u2019re not going to be able to go back to the country of their birth. And I just think it\u2019s really, really wrong the way it\u2019s been done.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got parents that are older, you have to go back. So we\u2019re fortunate that his [her husband\u2019s] mum is well enough that she can actually come out here, but if God forbid anything happens to her, she\u2019s 80, he needs to be able to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n