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I am a Lithuanian living in the UK. I am planning to take a trip to Portugal in two weeks, and my 4 year old son's Lithuanian passport (EU citizen) will expire while in Portugal. I have contacted the embassy and there is no way that they would renew his passport in time.

He was born in the UK and has a British birth certificate. I was wondering if the border agency would accept an expired EU passport for a child who is accompanied by his parents with valid passports and a birth certificate to enter the country?

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    Is your son only a Lithuanian citizen, or does he have UK citizenship as well?
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 17:55
  • @NateEldredge nope Lithuanian only, UK removed their 'Jus soli' in eghtees
    – Matas Vaitkevicius
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 18:02
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    With you as the primary, the child has derived rights as a family member which can be established by the birth certificate and expired passport. You may have to wait a while while they study derived rights but I don't see a big problem.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 18:06
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    Giorgio's answer well describes the rights and what the border agents have to consider, however if you travel by air from continental europe to the UK there is sometime a UK border agent at the departure point. My wife (same automatic EEA rights than your son, and perfectly valid UK residence documentation since many years) was denied boarding the plane just because her passport was expired. We had to get her a new passport before we could fly back to the UK. Your travel must have happened by now, could you update everybody on the outcome ?
    – Hoki
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 11:35
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    @Hoki Realising that this might turn into nightmare, we didn't go, lol.
    – Matas Vaitkevicius
    Commented Oct 11, 2018 at 12:30

2 Answers 2

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As GayotFow is no longer able to do so, elevating his comment to an answer:

With you as the primary, the child has derived rights as a family member which can be established by the birth certificate and expired passport. You may have to wait a while while they study derived rights but I don't see a big problem.

The Home Office directive on Free Movement Rights: direct family members of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals Version 5.0 at page 6:

Family members who come under regulation 7(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 (the 2016 regulations) are often called ‘direct’ family members.

The following can be considered as direct family members:

  • spouse or civil partner
  • direct descendants of the EEA national or their spouse or civil partner who are:
    → under the age of 21
    → dependants of the EEA national or their spouse or civil partner

Direct family members have an automatic right of residence in the UK for as long as they remain the family member of that EEA national and that person is either:

  • entitled to reside in the UK for an initial period of 3 months
  • a qualified person
  • has a right of permanent residence
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Birth certificate can be used for immigration with parents.

Travelling with children

You may be asked at the border to prove the relationship between yourself and any children travelling with you, if you don’t seem to be the parent, eg if you have a different surname.

You can prove this with:

  1. a birth or adoption certificate showing your relationship with the child

  2. divorce or marriage certificates if you’re the parent but have a different surname from the child

  3. a letter from the child’s parent giving permission for the child to travel with you and providing contact details, if you’re not the parent

Taken from: https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control/before-you-leave-for-the-uk

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    Those are as extras over a passport, usually, they are not listed as options instead of a passport.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Aug 8, 2015 at 17:06

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