Britons will pay €7 to travel to EU countries, no visa needed

Saturday, December 15, 2018

As a consequence of Brexit UK travellers will not need a visa but will have to apply for and buy another document confirmed the European Commission.

The Britons will have to pay €7 (£6.30) every three years to travel to EU countries.

The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) is still not launched but will become effective by 2021. It is said that the travel requirement is not just for the UK but for many non-EU countries.

British people and citizens of EU countries are free to travel anywhere in the EU but those from a non-EU country will have to apply for a visa apart from  those  from a special list of 61 countries inclusive of US, Japan and Australia.

The EU’s Schengen zone can be travelled by nationals of 61 countries , here they can travel without border checks for a period of 90 days without a visa.

The migrant crisis and security concerns over terrorism there will be more controls over the countries on this special list by the EU.

The ETIAS is an electronic application form which is Europe’s version of the United States’ $14 ESTA and the EU Commission points out that it was cheaper.

It is a travel requirement and should not be confused with a visa for travellers belonging to the 61 non-EU countries visiting EU for business, tourism , medical or transit –related reason for a period of 90 days.It will strengthen security checks on persons travelling visa-free to the EU.

Until the end of the transition period in 2020, considering the Brexit deal the EU citizens and UK nationals will continue to be able to travel freely with a passport or identity card.

There will be visa-free travel for UK nationals after the end of this period for UK nationals coming to EU for short stay if UK offers the same in return.

But the UK national will not be needing a visa, they will require and ETIAS –deal or no deal.As per the EU the form is necessary and a small procedural step will not take more than 10 minutes and those between the age group of 18 and 70 must pay the fee.

Passport information, background questions, criminal records and medical condition details will be needed for the application form.

More than 95% of the applications will be approved automatically , however the applications can also be denied and take around four weeks to process.

The ETIAS will allow an unlimited number of entries and will last for three years and the documents will be checked by the border guards while crossing the EU border.

The rules pertaining to EU tourist coming to the UK is still not known however as per the EU and UK’s political declaration there will be visa-free travel for short-term visits.

The EU’s offer of visa-free travel to the UK was conditional upon the UK was conditional based on the UK’s granting reciprocal and non-discriminatory visa-free travel for all EU member states.

By March 2019 the proposal will come into force when the UK leaves the EU if there is a no-deal Brexit which must be adopted by the EU Parliament and the European Council before it gets effective.

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