It is now final — The UK will officially take on Brexit on January 31. The transitioning of the customs union and other implementation should be done until December 31, 2020.
After those, new trading deals and security arrangements for the immigration will be processed.
The European Parliament had already agreed in April of 2019. They give the UK citizens visa-free travels for stays up to 90 days in 180 days to most of the western European countries, the Schengen areas.
As per Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), “The transition period, which kicks off from February 1, will mean that travel between the UK and Europe will stay precisely the same until December 31, 2020.
Tom Jenkins, the chief executive of the European Tourism Association, explained, “According to the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), UK nationals can continue to travel to the EU exactly as they do now,” he added, “You won’t need a visa or six months left on your passport or evidence of a return ticket.”
Another statement from the Travel and Tourism Chairman, “Based on current agreements we expect a large chunk of things to stay the same — access to EU countries should not change for visitors looking to stay in Europe for less than a month.”
There are still no legal negotiations between the UK and EU for those who are planning to travel in the future. There is no certainty when February of 2021 arrives.
One negative impact of Brexit is the freedom and movement of EU citizens, and they would need to have a visa to be able to work in the UK. As of the moment, they can work without any visa.
For those UK citizens traveling to the EU, they will need to pay 7 Euros, similar to what US citizen’s ESTA visa waiver.
From this, they will be able to go around the Schengen territories. This waiver will be valid for three years and can be accessed online.
This is called the new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) and hopefully will be fully running and functional by 2021.
Jonathan Smith of the Association of British Travel Agents said that UK citizens are just amenable to this system, “The majority of people we spoke with were quite happy with it, as long as it wasn’t too expensive or wouldn’t take them too long to do.”
ETIAS will not affect the relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland. In 1923, there was a Common Travel Area between these two nations that citizens can travel between these two without any visa. CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons that Brexit doesn’t change the ease of getting to Ireland or the warmth of the welcome.
If there won’t be any agreement finalized between the UK and EU by the end of this year, this could mean some hassles for future travelers. This smooth travel will over in 11 months’ time.
Smith added, “It could well be that we’re back communicating on the issues we were talking about at previous deadlines. “
