Crossing borders

It is less than a year now until I need to renew my passport. A new photo to chart the ever-diminishing amount of hair that adorns my head as each decade passes. This time the passport will have a dark blue rather than a maroon cover; feel free to call me an old cynic, but I somehow doubt this will make a jot of difference to the experience of entering or exiting another country.

We are on the cusp of quite a lot of changes when it comes to the process of Brits travelling to some of the nations we visit most often, and equally there are ways in which inbound visitors to the UK could soon find border formalities are different to those in force in the past. However, given that it is possible the new government may make changes to what has been planned I will return to look at our own border arrangements for inbound visitors at a later date, and this month focus just on outbound travel to Europe.

Even for those of us who are immersed in travel and tourism it is easy to get a bit muddled about the impending changes to what Brits will need to do when planning a trip to Europe with a tsunami of new acronyms to navigate.

We’ll start with the EU’s Entry Exit System (EES).

The claimed main benefit of this scheme from the perspective of the average traveller is that it will save time, as it takes away the need for passport stamping by automating border control procedures. The IT system (and IT systems never go wrong, do they…) will register non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of European countries using the system.

There are two EU countries that will be outside the EES, namely Ireland and Cyprus where passports will still be stamped, although with Ireland being part of the Common Travel Area with the UK no changes will impact Brits travelling to the Republic of Ireland.

The EES will apply to UK nationals visiting certain other European countries that are not in the EU; Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

With the EES applying to short stays, those UK nationals who travel regularly to countries where the scheme will operate will need to be mindful of the fact that they can only visit for up to 90 days in any 180 days, and that the system will calculate this as a single period for all European countries using the EES. Those identified as overstayers may be fined, detained or prevented from re-entering in the future.

The EES will collect personal data provided by the traveller each time he or she reaches the borders of European countries using the EES and store this information in the system, together with the date and time of their entry or exit.

The EES will record data listed on the travel document concerned (typically a passport) including full name and date of birth, date and place of entry or exit, biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) and (if relevant) refusal of entry. This information will be stored for three years.

Although the phrase “moving feast” can readily be applied to the planned date at which the EES will go live, the latest information is that this will be in November of this year.

Now we must turn our attention to ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System which is likely to be introduced at some stage in 2025.

The most fundamental way in which this will change travel for UK nationals is that those wishing to visit one of 30 European countries for a short stay will need to apply for authorisation to do so – you will no longer be able to simply book your travel and expect to be allowed to board the plane heading off on a city-break or beach holiday.

As with the EES Ireland is not covered, but Cyprus will be within the scope of ETIAS, as will Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

In addition to having to apply for authorisation ahead of travel a fee will be payable, and that’s why one of the things Brits heading to Europe once the scheme is operational will need to be wary of is the risk posed by scam websites.

Applications should only be filled out and the relevant fee paid on the official ETIAS website or app.

An ETIAS will cost €7 (slightly less than ￡6 at current exchange rates), and although those aged under 18 or over 70 will not be subject to this fee they will still need to apply.

Once granted the ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the travel document used to apply expires, whichever comes first.

The ETIAS will be linked to the travel document that is used for the application, which in almost all cases will be a passport. That means this travel document will need to be taken on any trips to Europe, as without it you will not be able to board the plane, train or boat that you thought was going to take you there.

According to the ETIAS website the application form will collect a range of information; name, surname, date and place of birth, nationality, home address, parents’ first names, email address and phone number, details of the travel document (typically passport), your level of education, current occupation, the country of your first intended stay, address at your destination and any criminal convictions or past travel to conflict zones.

Unquestionably this adds bureaucracy and cost to outbound travel but, given an ETIAS will permit travel to any one of thirty nations for a period of three years, it is unlikely to dissuade more than a very small number from heading across the English Channel.

In the short-term however one can certainly foresee unwitting folk not acting on prompts during the booking process to ensure they have an ETIAS turning up at the airport only to be disappointed, or having to make a last-minute application and hope that authorisation is granted speedily.

I recall arriving on a flight from London at Rotterdam Airport quite late in the evening a dozen or so years ago and finding to my great surprise that I was able to walk straight out unchallenged, there being not a solitary occupant manning the passport control booths. But that was before EES, ETIAS, and of course Brexit.