Plan to charge Brits travelling to EU is delayed until next year

Friday 19 May 2023

A plan to charge British passport holders €7 to be able to travel to most EU countries has been pushed back until some point next year.

Due to a little-publicised consequence of Brexit, British citizens would have had to apply for a visa-waiver to travel to any country in Europe’s passport-free zone, the Schengen Area from November.

However, this has recently been pushed back.

Under the new rules, British passport holders won’t need a visa for short stays in the EU of up to 90 days, including day trips to Saint Malo, but will have to apply for the visa-waiver, which would be valid for a minimum of two years.

Commenting on the latest delay, Customs and Immigration Head of Service Mark Cockerham said: “The European Travel Information and Authorisation System, which applies to visa exempt travellers to Europe, has been delayed until 2024 with an exact launch date not known as yet.

“We expect the UK version ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year although it will only apply to visitors from certain areas of the Middle East - Qatari nationals. 

“We anticipate Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies being in scope much later in 2024 so it won't change any requirements for visitors to Jersey until that point.”

Pictured: Even for day trips to Saint Malo, British passport-holding islanders will need to apply for a visa-waiver in future.

The visa-waiver fee for Britons was due to be introduced this month but the European Commission postponed it by six months. It has now pushed it back again.

Countries in the Schengen Area include France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden and Greece.

Like the American ESTA visa-waiver system, British travellers will have to pre-register their details and pay the €7 fee before travelling. 

Before Brexit, Britons benefited from freedom of movement across the EU but this came to an end when the UK – and by extension, Jersey – left the EU in January 2020.