Travel and Brexit: French Interior Ministry advice

Are French citizens going to need their passports to travel to the United Kingdom [editor’s note: as opposed to just their national identity card] and will it be necessary to obtain a visa in order to travel to the United Kingdom for a short or long stay? Will the situation be the same for British citizens?

Until March 29, 2019, to enter and to stay in the United Kingdom or France, the traveller must be in possession of a valid passport or national identity card. No visa is required.

In the event of a withdrawal agreement coming into force

In this case, and until December 31, 2020, the conditions will be the same as at present: the traveller must be in possession of a valid passport or national identity card. No visa will be required, neither for a short stay nor for a long stay.

In the absence of a withdrawal agreement

In this case, French or British citizens will be considered third-country nationals when visiting from March 29, 2019 and will be subject to checks at border crossings, although measures are already being envisaged to maintain a certain fluidity at border crossings.

In addition, the French or British traveller will have to be in possession of a passport and could need:

* Short-stay visas, depending on a decision to be taken by the British government (at this stage, the British government has indicated its intention not to subject European nationals to a visa requirement for short stays) and by the European Union (the European Commission presented on November 13, 2018 a proposal for a regulation to exempt United Kingdom nationals travelling to the European Union from a visa requirement, if the United Kingdom reciprocally grants a visa exemption to all European Union citizens).

*Long stay visas if they wish to stay more than 90 days.

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