A father-of-two has been left stranded on a Greek holiday island after airline staff refused to let him fly home to Britain on his American passport – despite him living in the UK since he was a baby.
Kyle Harris, 39, was prevented from boarding a Jet2 flight from Kefalonia after being caught out by tough new border rules affecting dual-national British citizens.
Mr Harris, who was born in the United States but brought to Britain before his first birthday, had travelled to the sun-soaked island with his wife Ruth, 40, and their two young sons for a week-long break.
However when the family attempted to check-in for their return flight on Saturday, Mr Harris was stopped from boarding because he did not have a UK passport.
Until February, many British dual nationals could travel back to the UK using their second nationality passports.
Sweeping Home Office changes now require them to instead show a valid UK or Irish passport, or obtain a £589 digital ‘certificate of entitlement’ as specific proof.
Despite having a British birth certificate, Mr Harris, from Wheatley, South Yorkshire, was informed he could not return to the UK and would have to remain in Kefalonia while his family scrambles to prove his right to return home.
His wife Ruth told of the family’s distress on social media, saying they had no idea the rules had changed and were never warned during booking or on their outward journey.
Kyle Harris, pictured with his wife Ruth, has been left stranded on a Greek holiday island after airline staff refused to let him fly home to Britain on his American passport – despite him living in the UK since he was a baby
Mrs Harris told of the family’s distress on social media, saying they had no idea the rules had changed and were never warned during booking or on their outward journey
Posting on Facebook, Mrs Harris said: ‘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.
‘That’s exactly what happened to us on Saturday.
‘After what was an amazing family holiday in Kefalonia with incredible friends we arrived at the airport to be told he could not board the flight home to the UK.’
Mr Harris was born in the US state of Maryland to a British mother and an American father who was working for the RAF.
Mrs Harris said her husband had always travelled on his American passport ‘without issue’ throughout his life and did not have a UK equivalent.
She said the family’s immediate concern was obtaining the documents needed to bring Mr Harris home – a process she fears could take between three and eight weeks.
She said: ‘Our options appear to be applying for a British passport from Greece, or a visa to enter his own home country.
‘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.’
She added: ‘This situation needs attention.
‘How can a system be rolled out with so little communication that someone who has lived in the UK virtually their entire life suddenly feels unwelcome, forgotten, and forced to prove they belong?
‘And the only way is a passport; not the long-standing paper trail of contribution to that country.
‘Right now my husband feels more like a foreigner than a citizen of the country he calls home.’
Mrs Harris said the family were given the option by Jet2 of flying home without Mr Harris but said that she was ‘absolutely not’ going to ‘leave my husband stranded in another country whilst our children cried for their dad’.
The situation, she said, had been made more difficult because Mr Harris requires medication to treat a pituitary tumour, which he cannot easily access while abroad.
Mrs Harris, who works as a therapist, said: ‘We only intended to be there for a week.
‘We’ve both got work to return to. And my husband has a pituitary tumour and has medication that he needs to get.
‘It’s not on a daily basis, so he only brought enough and he’s now due his next tablet.’
She added: ‘We are trying to get some further support to get home to make sure my husband can see his consultant and get his medication.
‘We are where we are and we’re just trying to make the most of quite a bad situation.’
The family have sought support from the British consulate in Greece and the Foreign Office in London.
Mrs Harris said they had submitted ‘lots of information’ including birth certificates and tax records in an attempt to speed up the process.
She added: ‘A lot of dual nationals have been asking us questions. And it seems to be all the dual nationals that don’t know the information – like us – didn’t know the information.
‘And it seems to be people that aren’t dual nationals that knew this information.’
She insisted the family were not trying to avoid the rules, saying: ‘We don’t think we’re outside of the rules, not at all.
‘We were just unaware, innocently travelling as a family on holiday.’
The Home Office announced the immigration changes as part of a digitisation programme to give the government ‘greater power to stop those who pose a threat from setting foot in the country and gives us a fuller picture of immigration’.
However the rule change have already caught out a number of other dual-national families, including the parents of an 11-month-old Scottish baby who was travelling on an Austrian passport.
Mr Harris, who was born in the United States but brought to Britain before his first birthday, had travelled to the sun-soaked island with Ruth and their two young sons for a week-long break
A Jet2 spokesperson said: ‘We’re sorry to hear about Mr Harris’ experience.
‘Our cabin crew acted in accordance with government legislation and sought guidance from the Home Office, as the passenger did not have the correct documentation at the time of travel.
‘We advise all customers to check Foreign Office travel requirements before travelling.’
The Home Office and Foreign Office were approached for comment.
