Brexit was never meant to make things easier on both sides of the English Channel. From 2 April next year, EU tourists who want to travel to the UK will face a new obstacle: they will have to apply for an electronic entry permit, the so-called Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
Although the British authorities assure that this is not a tourist visa, which is still not formally necessary for EU citizens travelling to British territory, in practice it is a very similar measure, as it leaves the decision of whether or not to authorise entry in the hands of the UK Home Office.
The portal of the Home Office The British visa will become available from March for those planning to travel to the UK from April. Although travellers will have to fill out an entry form, with a series of questions similar to those asked when applying for a visa, border officials say that a mobile app will soon be available to speed up the process. In theory, they add, the process will only take a few minutes, although the official response time is four days.
To register and make a request, you must have a valid passport with biometric data (chip and facial recognition), and specify the details of the trip (hotel or place of residence, duration, etc.), an email address and a credit or debit card.
The mandatory payment fee will be 10 pounds sterling, which is between 11 and 12 euros depending on the current exchange rate.
Once completed, the permit will be valid for six months.
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It is a system similar to the one that the United States already requires of European citizens traveling to its territory.
Since Brexit was implemented, the United Kingdom has been, for all intents and purposes, a third country in relation to the EU. If the immediate consequence of its application, among others, was the end of freedom of movement, which allowed EU citizens to live and work on British soil, the new border security measures will put an end to the last remaining privilege: the possibility of travelling from one side of the Channel to the other with only a valid passport.
The ETA is a key part of the UK Government’s plan to fully digitalise its border controls by the end of 2025.
Similar controls on access to the EU
The EU has already announced its intention to roll out a similar border control system for British citizens in the first half of 2025, although it has not yet specified a specific date. This is the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which began to be prepared at the end of 2016, although it was delayed until now.
The application process is similar to the British one: a form, entering personal details and a fee which, in the European case, will be somewhat lower, 7 euros. The permit will be incorporated into the electronic data of the passport and will be valid for three years. Minors under 18 or over 70 will not have to pay the fee.
The ETIAS should not be confused with another prior control, which will come into force on 10 November: the so-called EU Entry/Exit Scheme (EU Entry/Exit SchemeEES for short). It affects all non-EU citizens, including British citizens, who enter the Schengen zone (the area of free movement) for short periods of no more than 90 days. UK citizens who have a residence permit in an EU country are exempt.
Control is simpler in this case. Citizens who do not have a biometric passport and cannot therefore enter the EU through the self-check-in machines already in place at many airports will have to provide biometric information on the spot, such as an electronic record of their fingerprints or a photograph of their face.
The data will remain in the digital archives of the border police for three years, and during that time it will not be necessary to renew them, but it will be necessary to undergo a facial or fingerprint check each time you enter the Schengen area. In this way, the responsible authorities justify, it will be possible to have shared information and control of the entries and exits of third-country citizens to the EU.
