A dad was denied permission to fly home to the UK despite having lived here since he was a baby.
Kyle Harris, who was born in the US, took his wife Ruth and their two sons for a one-week break in Kefalonia in Greece.
But the 39-year-old from Wheatley, South Yorkshire, was blocked from boarding his Jet2 flight back to the UK after it was found he did not have a British passport.
Until February, British dual citizens were permitted to travel to the UK on their other passport.
However strict new rules relating to the introduction of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) now require all British citizens to enter the country on their British passport.
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Mr Harris was born in Maryland before being brought to the UK before his first birthday and has a British birth certificate.
Explaining the ordeal, his wife wrote on Facebook: ‘Imagine being told your husband can’t come home to the UK… despite living there for 39 years, paying 24 years of tax and national insurance, attending nursery, primary and secondary school, raising British children and building his entire life there.
She added: ‘Not once during booking, travel, or check-in were we warned this could happen. Nor have we seen any of a large campaign that has apparently taken place to ensure people travelling this way know.
‘Right now my husband feels more like a foreigner than a citizen of the country he calls home.’
The family were left with no option but to extend their time away while Mr Harris obtained the required documentation at the British consulate.
Under new rules, all foreign nationals, except for Irish citizens, who do not require a visa to travel to the UK must complete an ETA form before boarding their flight.
British citizens are not eligible to complete the form, meaning dual citizens without a British passport are stuck with limited ways to return home.
Dual nationals stranded abroad can either apply for a British passport or obtain a Certificate of Entitlement costing £589 allowing them to travel on their foreign passport.
However, according to the gov.uk, applications for the latter can take up to eight weeks to process.
Some airlines, including Ryanair, have indicated they would accept expired British passports for dual citizens.
For Mr Harris, the ordeal was an extra stress as he suffers from a pituitary tumour and only brought enough medication to see him through the holiday, his wife Ruth explained.
She told Daily Mail the pair were completely unaware the rules had changed but were trying to ‘make the most of a bad situation’.
‘We were just unaware, innocently travelling as a family on holiday’, she said.
Jet2 said its staff had sought guidance from the Home Office in Mr Harris’s case and had acted in accordance with government rules.
‘We advise all customers to check Foreign Office travel requirements before travelling’, a spokesperson said.
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