It seems Her Majesty’s Government has outlined how travel to Europe is going to work for UK Citizens from the 1st January 2021.
And it’s going to involve more paperwork and higher costs.
Let’s start with the obvious and work downwards.
Passports
You will need to ensure your passport is valid for travel.
Burgundy Edition ones will be still valid, if still in date, have at least six months left on them and be less than 10 years old.
On the day you travel, you’ll need your passport to both:
- have at least 6 months left
- be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left)
Failure to renew will mean you cannot travel to most EU Countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. For those travelling to Ireland, you can continue to use your passport as long as it’s valid for the length of your stay.
Healthcare
For those of you used to completing just a European Health Insurance Card when going to Europe, this will no longer be valid from the 1st January 2021. Instead, you will need appropriate travel insurance that covers pre-existing conditions.
And you can bet travel insurance will shoot up because of it.
Entering other countries
Tourists can enter the EU and EEA countries for a maximum of 90 days in 180 days. Visa’s or permits may be required for you to stay longer, to work or study, or travel for business.
When you arrive at an EU border, you may be requested to show a return or onward ticket, have enough money for your stay.
And… you’ll need to use separate lanes from EU, EEA and Swiss citizens when queueing to be processed into the EU. Expect entry to take longer than it does now unless some countries feel generous.
Mobile phone roaming
Remember that wonderful thing of not being worried about mobile phone roaming in the EU? Well, the guarantee of free mobile phone roaming throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will end.
You’ll be at the mercy of your operator how they intend to charge for roaming charges (such as voice, text and internet connectivity).
Driving
If you drive, some countries will require an international driving permit. You will also need to provide and carry a valid proof of insurance and GB sticker on your car.
Pets
If you want to take your pet aboard, the current pet passport scheme will come to an end. The new process takes around four months to process – the full details are here.
Welcome back to paperwork and higher costs
With the UK exiting the EU and the transition arrangements ending, it seems that the cost of travel will go up – like it or not. Be t from travelling on a short-life passport, ensuring you have the correct insurance, wanting to be connected on the road, or ensuring you have the correct documentation to be on the road.
But it seems Her Majesties Government has pinned its hopes on the future being away from Europe.
But at least…
We will have blue passports when we travel. Or something like that.
Draft design for the new UK passport post-Brexit. Made in France. #montypython #brexit #aprilfools pic.twitter.com/MJ3kcX7efl
— Monty Python (@montypython) April 1, 2018
The full guidance is at https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021 and is worth a long read. Those who are travelling for business will need to meet extra requirements, listed at https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021/business-travel-extra-requirements
Least of all – like or not – travel is about to change for British Citizens entering Europe.
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Passports will be .ade in Poland not France….
Did you look at the graphic and where it came from… ?
So for most people, nothing much changes. After all the travel agents have been insisting that you had to have 6 months on your passport anyway and the AA, Post Office and others were constantly trying to convince you that you needed an International Drivers Permit (which they could sell you)
Of course we do now need to use the Green customers channel rather than the blue one (which always seemed to merge into one straight after you entered) and in the passport control queue, you may now be rubbing shoulders with americans instead.
You can still bring back as much beer and fags as you want and of course if your mobile provider wants to start charging you for roaming, there will be others that won’t
So much less of a change than the headlines suggest (unless you are a pet owner)
how can you say you can bring back as much alcohol and cigarettes as now ? Surely it will be that we can bring in the same allowance as we can from non-european countries as right now which is one bottle , and one 200 pack of cigarettes , while beer or bottle . THIS will happen because the UK government will want the taxes you will have to pay when you re-enter the UK as we are no longer in europe .so no longer have to obey european law This is how it was before we joined europe and if you travelling in your car wait to you see how the police in europe react as soon as they see your GB sticker . Headlight adjustment to other side of road , drivers licences , plus laws we do not know about all mean you have to pay fines . Most of our food prices will rise especially if using GB lorries as they will be taxed more = if you use foreign lorries you are putting UK lorries out of work .. Plus lots of other things .BECAUSE this UK government refuses to negotiate with europe as they have always wanted a NO-DEAL . Do you not think europe is going to react the same as we would if boot was on other foot . BUT this is what the english voters want ,higher holiday expenses , higher food and transport costs as you voted these lying clowns into government .
No
The UK Government issued legislation some time ago agreeing this. My understanding is that this is not the same going the other way (UK to EU).
Remember the UK can now set it’s own limits on personal duty free and they have decided that they will not impose limits. This is all on gov.uk if you want to read for yourself but it’s great news for UK holiday makers coming back with cheap booze 🙂
The rest of your comment appears to be speculation ahead of any deal (or no deal) being done.
the things i wrote were what happened before we entered Europe and you do not think France and Spain will not act this way now if there is no-deal ? Has not our government been telling everyone that there will be a no-deal if things do not change so everybody should prepare for no-deal
The EU number plates some cars have will not be valid, ( the ones with a small GB and blue flag with stars ). so replace with standard ones, and of course put an old fashioned GB sticker on your car as per the instructions above. For businesses will they have to dust off the old TIR plates for the front and back of their lorries?
Which ever side you take, or do not take, there will overall be more costs to UK. Anyone thinking otherwise will I believe in the nit too distant future be let down. It comes down to be careful what you wish for!!!!
Did that passport say “ your mother was a hamster” ?
And your father smells of elderberries.
Where is my holy grail?
Yes, so true. All a fuss over minor changes.
What makes you think beer will still be unrestricted? From outside the Uk there is a Duty free limit of 16 litres
One thing to add – if you’re a EU citizen living in the U.K. you will be covered under the EHIC scheme. Not completely bonkers!
Duty free allowances WILL change when you return from EU countries. It will be back to the same quantities for all other countries, 200 cigs, 1 litre of spirits etc. That’s what you get for voting Brexit
The government published legislation saying they will not impose limits when returning from the EU on fags and booze etc some time ago. As the UK government now sets it’s own import rules, it is able to allow whatever it wants. One of the things Brexit allows them to do 🙂
It’s all fully documented on the gov.uk website if you choose to go and look
this information was there on the GOV site before the brexit vote and is still on there as it is law till 31 December 2020. The last chancellor said that obviously there would be changes to the allowance for individuals when returning from europe as we would not be under european law if a deal was not agreed . With the virus debts do you not think the UK government will not be desperate to get every penny it can . Do you still trust this government and those brexit MPs with the promises they all made during and after the vote ? They promised there would not be a no-deal as it would take less than 2 weeks to negotiate a new deal with europe – every brexit MP agreed to this . Yet as they refuse to negotiate properly with europe ( to negotiate you sit down and trade ideas and deals but all these government representatives do is demand , demand then claim no deal is available ) they are making sure that no-deal is going to be the only deal on the table . This government promised that no USA chlorine treated washed chickens and drugged hormones meat would enter the UK but have in last few days refused to confirm this in parliament with liz truss refusing to comment
I’m not sure this is the place for an anti Brexit Left Wing anti government rant.
If you don’t want to read the “new” documentation & legislation and don’t want to believe a Tory Brexit is nothing but doom and gloom yet want to turn a no comment into an admission of something then this is no longer a discussion and to be fair, I’m here to discuss travel and enjoy the blog rather than get caught up in your ideology
Have a nice day
you are claiming you can bring back as much beer , spirits and cigarettes as you want after 31 December 2020 and it is not there . You claim this government passed legislation to make this law so where is this law . The only law i can find has been there for at least 10 years and is still there because it is law till 31 December 2020 = this is not new legislation . I can not find the new law you talk about on the books . So please tell me where to look as it is not on YOU GOV which is where it should be . I am not ideological i am just worried as we have been lied to for the last 5 years by every side and now you are making claims i cannot find so please produce your facts AS for your stupid claim ” left wing ” i have never voted labour in my life = just shows how stupid some comments you make when you do not know facts
Calm down please people.
Comments sections sadly are dictatorships, and I will not hesitate to suspend comments on this post.
Reference travelling to Ireland in fact British citizens do not require a password to enter the Republic of Ireland. Some airline like Ryanair want to see a passport but it’s not a government requirement due to the Common Travel Area.
As long as the main concern is about amount of the booze and fags that can be brought in duty free ( and colour of the passport) it is clear how majority of people particularly those that voted for Brexit still do not comprehend all the consequences of this half thought move. Let’s just all have a nice cup of tea and wave Union Jack whilst singing Rule Britannia. What an utter disaster!
Everything will be all right. Calm down people….a little change here and and there is OK. At least now we can control our own country. Calm down and look at the bright side.