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Brexit: European nationals warned of change in travel rules when visiting UK in future

European nationals have been warned that the rules to enter the UK will change in autumn next year, meaning ID cards will no longer be accepted at the border.

Brexit: European nationals warned of change in travel rules when visiting UK in future
AFP

Britain's Home Office has sent out a reminder to nationals of EU countries as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway that from October 1st 2021 national identity cards will no longer be valid to enter the UK.

From that date onwards nationals of all EU countries plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein will only be able to enter the UK using their passport.

However there will be some exceptions.

The Home Office states that these nationals can continue to use national ID card to enter the UK until at least 31st December 2025 if they:

  • have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • have a frontier worker permit
  • are an S2 Healthcare Visitor
  • are a Swiss Service Provider

“You can still enter the UK using a passport which expires in less than 6 months,” the Home Office states.

Europeans have been told that after the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31st, 2020 they will still be able to travel to the UK without needing a visa if they are arriving for a short stay or holiday.

The end of the transition period will also have an impact for British nationals who wish to travel in the EU after January 1st 2020.

Until the end of the transition period British nationals can travel freely throughout Europe and must only make sure their passport is valid for the duration of their trip.

However the rules are stricter after January 1st.

“From January 1st 2021, you must have at least six months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland),” the UK government says. 

For more on how travel will change in 2020 click on the link below.

REMINDER: What Brits in Europe need to know about travel after December 31st

 

 

 

 

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Greece, Italy to discuss rail ‘restart’ after tragedy: PM

Greece's Prime Minister on Friday said he would discuss with Italy safety improvements on Greek trains run by an Italian state company in the wake of last month's rail tragedy.

Greece, Italy to discuss rail 'restart' after tragedy: PM

“We will have the opportunity to discuss the way in which the Italian government…will be able to support the restart of Greece’s railways in a more active and substantial way,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters at a eurozone leaders’ summit in Brussels.

Mitsotakis said Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni had accepted an invitation to talks in Athens before the Greek general election in May.

“I believe we have the potential to jointly create a new future for our railways, whereby the Italian company will invest more in reliable, safer and faster trains” and Greece “will invest more in our network, its safety and its possible expansion”, Mitsotakis said.

Greece’s intercity trains went under private management in 2017, when state-owned Greek rail traffic services operator TrainOSE was privatised and sold to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, becoming Hellenic Train.

Greek state company OSE still owns the tracks.

On February 28, two trains collided head-on after running on the same track for several kilometres (miles), killing 57 people. It was Greece’s worst ever rail disaster.

Most of the victims were university students returning from a long holiday weekend.

Greece’s transport minister resigned and the disaster sparked weeks of angry and occasionally violent protests, piling pressure on Mitsotakis’ conservative government ahead of the election.

The stationmaster on duty during the accident and three other railway officials have been charged and face possible life sentences.

But Greece’s rail watchdog found serious safety problems across the network, including inadequate basic training for critical staff.

Railway unions had long warned the network was underfunded, understaffed and accident-prone after a decade of spending cuts.

Mitsotakis said he would also discuss migration issues — a priority for both countries — with Meloni during her visit.

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