cat0

I'm looking at flying DUB-LBA/NCL R/T in a few weeks; however I'm dropping off my passport at the US Embassy in Dublin for a visa application.

Does anyone have any experience flying DUB-UK R/T with only a drivers license as a UK citizen?

AlanA

Nit sure you can as the UK isn't in the (so?) shenegan agreement.

NeedstoFly

I don't think there is any passport check by UKBA when u fly ROI to GB. There certainly is one on the return route though by Irish Immigration.

DELLAS

No issue at all flying EI and CTA rules apply .

Before leaving home for your trip to or from Britain, make sure you’ve got the right identification. Find out what you need to bring right here.

Acceptable Identification

If you’re a citizen of Ireland and/or Britain, you need to carry some form of official photo identification in order to be able to fly with us.

Note: To travel between Ireland and Britain with photo identification other than a passport, you must have been born in Ireland or the U.K. and also be a citizen of either country.

The following forms of photo identification are acceptable once they are in date:

Valid passport
Driver’s licence with photo
International student card
National ID card/government issued photo ID cards
Health insurance cards with photo/social security cards with photo
Bus pass with photo
Work ID with photo
Citizens of Ireland and Britain under the age of 16 don’t need a photo ID if travelling with their parent/guardian.

Citizens of countries other than Ireland and Britain must produce a valid passport and visa where applicable for travel between Ireland and Britain.

https://www.aerlingus.com/travel-inf...-from-britain/

Marcusm

Neither is Ireland in the Shengan Area but Ireland and the UK are in the Shenanigan's Area which permits nationals to travel free of immigration control (although not fully respected by INIS staff). An Irish or British citizen can thus use a driving licence on EI (or BA but certainly not FR).

ROKNA

Be careful here, Aer Lingus and other carriers, BA, Flybe are fine with a drivers licence. Ryanair will refuse travel without a passport.

preacherirl

I use a driving licence only on that route with EI and BA. But I am an Irish citizen. If you are NOT a UK or Irish citizen you will definitely need a passport, no question.

BrianDromey

Aer Lingus are fine with a Drivers Licence, so long as you are an Irish/UK born Irish/UK citizen. It's relatively common for people to travel on these routes with a drivers licence. They wont bat an eyelid.

The other option would be to acquire one of the Irish passport cards, they are biometric passports in a credit card format. They are good for travel within the EU/EAA and last up to 5 years. FR do accept these for travel.

https://www.dfa.ie/passportcard/

ORDinant

Do you certainly need to be a UK/Irish citizen to travel with a driving licence? When do they check citizenship?

FYI - I had always been asked by INIS to present my boarding pass to prove the origin of my journey.

DELLAS

If you are not a UK/Irish citizen then you need a passport and if needed a visa unless you are entitled to enter under the BVIS scheme.

It is your obligation to have the correct documents. Checks are often carried out at the boarding gates and on arrival in the UK airports. I was asked for ID on arrival just last week. I have also seen people denied boarding in DUB for not having a valid visa for the UK.

preacherirl

UK and Irish citizens are allowed by the authorities to travel without passports between the two countries as part of the "Common Travel Area" between the UK and Ireland. But this does not apply to anybody else travelling between the two countries (i.e. people who are not citizens of either country).

Technically citizens do not even need a driving license for immigration, as long as they have some kind of ID to prove their identity, but in practice that's irrelevant because the airlines (as opposed to Immigration officers) insist on a driving license or passport or passport card.

I believe though that Ryanair won't take a driving license and insist on a passport or passport card. Again, that's an airline rule, not a legal/Immigration issue.

:D!

Citizenship is not truly checked. Driving licences state your place of birth. The assumption is that most people born in the UK and Ireland are British and/or Irish citizens. While almost everyone born in Ireland who is old enough to have a driving licence will be an Irish citizen, this cannot be assumed for British-born people since 1983.

Furthermore, even if born in the UK or Ireland, if you have another citizenship, you can renounce your British or Irish citizenship (or even have it revoked), but keep your driving licence. Or you could have been born in the UK to a foreign male diplomat and a mother who was not settled in the UK at the time.

If you were not born in the UK (or certain British territories) or Ireland then your place of birth will not provide any clue to whether you are a citizen who is entitled to use the CTA, therefore some other document will be required. If you were naturalised, you could do it with a driving licence and a naturalisation certificate. By descent is a bit harder, since you can't expect airline staff or even immigration officials to know nationality law (of a different country).

However even if you lose your passport you can probably blag your way in anyway after the immigration officials run a few electronic checks, it's all risk-based rather than absolute strictness.

Danash

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/e...orts-2nzqw5rvr

cat0

Yes, this is indeed rather worrying. I was going to fly into LBA, but instead chose MAN for the better flight times.

I'm still going to go ahead and at least attempt the flight. I'll have my old passport with me, along with all my documentation (as a result of going to the US Embassy). Hopefully it'll work out at MAN.

I am more worried about coming back (LBA/NCL-(LHR-)DUB). Turning up in another country without a passport makes me a little nervous, but I'll be flying into DUB a few days before and so will confirm with an officer there just to make sure. I'll also have all my BPs, so I'll be able to show I was already in Ireland. Worst case, they deny boarding and then I hop on a flight to Belfast and take the train down instead.

Thanks everyone!

Often1

FR, as is it right, does not accept any form of ID other than a passport on international services. The FR website makes an express mention of the Ireland-UK situation.

This has nothing to do with requirements of either country. Simply a corporate policy.