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So my son is a Bolivian citizen, but we are applying for his British citizenship this week (any idea on how long that’s taking at the minute would also be appreciated!)

Bolivia doesn’t do passport interviews. We would have to travel to another Latin American country, and its a 10 week process. However, I am from Northern Ireland, and usually we fly into Dublin and drive up to Belfast, because it’s fastest. ROI has no visa requirements for Bolivian citizens, we could go there tomorrow.

When his British citizenship comes through, could we fly into Dublin, drive up North and apply for his passport there? Any legal issues with that? Even with Brexit there won’t be a hard border by the time we’d be coming home anyway.

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When his British citizenship comes through, could we fly into Dublin, drive up North and apply for his passport there? Any legal issues with that? Even with Brexit there won’t be a hard border by the time we’d be coming home anyway.

Yes. You can enter the Republic of Ireland with your son, even if he has no documents proving his UK nationality, because of the European Union directive on freedom of movement. Once your son is in the Republic of Ireland, he can travel to the UK without a passport because he will be a citizen of the UK, and will therefore have an unrestricted right of abode in the UK.

The hard border, if there is one, is more likely to be only a customs border with no immigration checks.

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  • Note that it is almost certainly the case that the son is a British citizen, and hence has unrestricted right of abode in the UK at the moment. What is missing is any sort of documentation proving this. And of course, most British citizens apply for their passport inside the UK (in case the OP was worrying about applying for a passport from the wrong place).
    – Martin Bonner supports Monica
    Mar 11, 2019 at 8:56
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    @MartinBonner from Sarah Louise's earlier questions (mostly on Travel), it is apparent that the son is not automatically a British citizen because he was adopted outside the UK. Since he is not a British citizen yet, he cannot enter the UK without a visa.
    – phoog
    Mar 11, 2019 at 19:25

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