Tom Earnshaw
Brits are being warned over changes set to come in if they want to travel to the European Union that could see them refused entry if they don't agree to the new rules and regulations.
It is the latest Brexit rule change set to impact Brits as a result of leaving the EU, with UK citizens losing the right to freedom of movement across all 27 countries that are in the EU.
Now, Brits are set to be at the mercy of another rule change that is slowly being brought in to impact those from Scotland, Wales, or England.
The positive of it is that it won't impact us right away, however, with the EU giving us a transition period.
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It is all to do with the European Travel Information and Authorisation System - known as ETIAS - visa waiver which is currently set to launch in spring 2025, according to officials at the EU's headquarters in Brussels.
Simply put, if British passport holders do not have this, then they will not be able to travel to any of these countries in the EU.
We're talking Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
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It's going to be treated with the upmost seriousness by those granting permission in to the EU at airports.
Brits will face being turned away at airports and ports if they don't have the visa waiver on them.
"If you come from [the UK] and you plan to visit any of the 30 European countries for a short-term stay, you will need an ETIAS travel authorisation," the EU website says.
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As a result of Brexit, the ETIAS system is being delayed by six months as a bedding in period for Brits still getting used to travelling to the UK under new rules.
It'll launch half a year after the EU's new Entry / Exit System (EES) which officially comes in to play on 10 November.
It'll see the EU ditch traditional passport checks, which includes the stamping of your passport, in favour of hi-tech border control. Under the EES, Brits will instead have their fingerprints and faces scanned before entry in to the EU.
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The ETIAS waiver will cost Brits €7 per person, with the EU saying that 'most applications will be processed within minutes'.
To be on the safe side, it recommends Brits to complete their travel authorisation 'before you buy your tickets and book your hotels'.
Once ETIAS is introduced, the European Commission confirmed there will be a 'transitional period' of six months where travellers will be notified of the need for the visa without having to actually have one.
“During this transitional period, member states will have to inform passengers of the requirement for them to have a valid travel authorisation as from the end of the transitional period,” a spokesperson told the inews.
In Europe, Brits will be able to visit Albania, Andorra, Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina without the ETIAS waiver.
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The same goes for North Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Russia, San Marino, Serbia and Ukraine.
Ireland is also part of the Common Travel Area within the UK, so it is unlikely to need it for travel there.