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I am currently in France and have a permanent Carte de séjour. My brother has died suddenly in the UK and I need to go to his funeral in 11 days time. The UK passport I have applied for will probably not arrive in time.

Is the Emergency Passport in France that is valid for a year available to ONLY French citizens or could I be considered for one even though I am a UK citizen?

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    Why don't you apply for a UK Emergency Passport ? However, this will only get you into the UK - it will be retained by the immigration officers. You'll need to apply for an expedited passport to get back to France. You can phone 00 44 300 222 0000 for advice (gov.uk/passport-advice-line)
    – CSM
    Commented Jan 2 at 17:08
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    It's a French passport. The fact that it's a limited-validity passport doesn't change its basic nature.
    – user138870
    Commented Jan 3 at 0:27
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    From Gov.UK website: "An emergency travel document lets you travel from abroad if you need to travel urgently and cannot use your UK passport. It is usually only valid for one single or return journey." So a return journey on this document is possible.gov.uk/travel-urgently-from-abroad-without-uk-passport
    – canonacer
    Commented Jan 3 at 8:14
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    @Stef many places, especially UK bureaucracy, do not allow in-person visits and require that everything be done by mail. Do you know that going "there" is an option? "There" presumably being the UK embassy or consulate nearest the OP?
    – terdon
    Commented Jan 3 at 12:12
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    @terdon What I don't know is what the OP did. What I do know is that when a French citizen is trying to get a passport or visa from Paris, going in person can help make things a lot faster. Which is why I wrote my comment. Given the short time-window of their situation, it seemed more productive to me to ask clarifications and suggest options, rather than to not suggest anything with the excuse that I don't know every single detail of the OP's situation and haven't been in every consulate in the world.
    – Stef
    Commented Jan 3 at 12:16

1 Answer 1

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Is the Emergency Passport in France that is valid for a year available to ONLY French citizens

Yes

or could I be considered for one even though I am a UK citizen?

No, you must get an Emergency Travel Document from the UK Home Office, if your passport is not going to be ready in time.

But, as mentioned by CSM, it is a single-use document and you will need a valid passport to go back.


However, since a British national can't be denied entry to the UK, you could try your entry without a passport (but with conclusive nationality proof instead) by taking the Eurostar at Paris or Lille.

However this is unlikely to work as you would need to also clear Schengen Exit Control and I have no idea if you would be allowed exit only with the carte de séjour.

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    In fact, even TIMATIC notes that British citizens can enter the UK with an expired British passport, so there might be no trouble at all getting to the UK.
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 2 at 19:43
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    That only works if OP has not send their old passport in.
    – Willeke
    Commented Jan 2 at 19:55
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    @NicolasFormichella I don't think there is any explicit rule about that and in this case the carte de séjour is more than enough for the border guards to perform any check that may be necessary and establish that the OP doesn't need to demonstrate (with a stamp) that they haven't stayed too long. Even if the border guards get curious, they shouldn't be surprised as the rule is the same in France for French citizen.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Jan 2 at 23:10
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    No, this hasn't changed. My family and I have taken the Eurostar (UK to EU and back) a dozen times in the past year-and-a-half. And no-one other than the UK and French immigration officers has ever looked at our passports. Commented Jan 3 at 11:11
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    @abligh You pass through UK border control before boarding the train, which is why Eurostar is being specifically recommended in this answer.
    – MJeffryes
    Commented Jan 3 at 14:48

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