A Queensland couple who emigrated from the UK over 40 years ago face a "desperate deadline" to renew their old British passports before an around-the-world cruise in March.

Stuart and Gwen Rayner, both aged in their 70s, are dual Australian-British nationals and haven't held valid UK passports since 2002.

The soon-to-be-enforced Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, which requires dual citizens to have valid UK passports from February 26, has thrown their travel plans into chaos.

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