U.K. and Ireland - EU and non-EU family at LRH T5 Immigration

EU citizen traveling to London with spouse and children (USA citizens) from USA. Can we all use the EU lines or must we split up upon arrival at T5?

EU citizen traveling to London with spouse and children (USA citizens) from USA. Can we all use the EU lines or must we split up upon arrival at T5?

There has been a lot of discussion around this. Many have reported that they simply joined whichever queue was the shortest and this was fine. A few have reported being given a hard time. I've seen some recommend that you ask the 'shepherd' at the entrance of the queues, as the outlook on this may differ based on how busy they are.

Personally, I wouldn't split up - just ask if you can or pick the shortest queue.

I'm a Brit, but naturalized recently in the US, my spouse is German and our toddler has triple citizenship although only a US passport so far. Needless to say we've always defaulted to the EU queue - but now I'm an American we might have a glance at the non-EU if it ever seemed shorter.

Thanks. Very helpful.

There has been a lot of discussion around this. Many have reported that they simply joined whichever queue was the shortest and this was fine. A few have reported being given a hard time. I've seen some recommend that you ask the 'shepherd' at the entrance of the queues, as the outlook on this may differ based on how busy they are.

Personally, I wouldn't split up - just ask if you can or pick the shortest queue.

I'm a Brit, but naturalized recently in the US, my spouse is German and our toddler has triple citizenship although only a US passport so far. Needless to say we've always defaulted to the EU queue - but now I'm an American we might have a glance at the non-EU if it ever seemed shorter.

As a Brit aren't you obligated to enter the UK on your Brit passport? I know you are suppose to enter the US on your US passport and thought it was the same for the UK. All other countries you can pick whichever works best for the situation.

As a Brit aren't you obligated to enter the UK on your Brit passport? I know you are suppose to enter the US on your US passport and thought it was the same for the UK. All other countries you can pick whichever works best for the situation.

Unless I misunderstand, I think the question is just about which line, not which passport you present when you get to the front.

As a Brit aren't you obligated to enter the UK on your Brit passport? I know you are suppose to enter the US on your US passport and thought it was the same for the UK. All other countries you can pick whichever works best for the situation.
No, the UK requires only that the documentation presented be valid for the purpose of the trip. It would of course be easier for a dual UK–US citizen to use his or her British passport to enter the UK, but that's a different point. (Australia is another country like the US in this regard: it requires its citizens to to use an Australian passport to enter Australia, with few exceptions.)

And the comment made by MoreMilesPlease is not irrelevant to the question posed by the OP.

But regarding which line to choose at airports like Heathrow, I think the best advice is to ask the person controlling the queues. Technically, the immediate family of a non-British EU citizen can enter the UK with (or to join) the EU citizen family member with no questions asked, but it doesn't always work quite as simply as that. It wouldn't be sensible to join the EU queue only to be turned back when you get to the top and have some family members be told to join the other queue –.with the length of both queues recently this process could take several hours!

Understood. Cheers, everyone.