Future travel to Europe for British passport holders after Brexit

As the deadline for the U.K.’s exit from the European Union approaches, the repercussions for British passport holders seeking to travel to Europe and for non-residents looking to enter the U.K. remain unclear. If you are not a British passport holder and you are thinking of traveling to the UK after Brexit, you may be wondering if entry restrictions have changed. Alternatively, if you are a British citizen, you may be worried that your UK passport after Brexit will limit your travel around the continent. What is a UK passport post Brexit worth? And will British citizens need to obtain a European visa for UK citizens in order to travel around the Schengen area? Read on to find out!

What is Brexit?

• In short, Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, a political and economic community of 27 European member states. 
• The UK held a national referendum on the decision to withdraw from the EU in June 2016, which narrowly passed. 
• Although the U.K. technically withdrew from the E.U. on January 31^st, 2020, the period since then has been one of transition, with the U.K. working toward its official exit from the EU ever since via a tense and contentious process involving difficult negotiations with EU member states surrounding issues of trade, finance, politics, and travel. 
• Because of the complexity and politically sensitive nature of the withdrawal, the timeline for the U.K.’s official exit has kept expanding. In the meantime, the U.K. remains a member of the EU, with all the travel rights and privileges attendant to that relationship.  
• However, after years of negotiation, the final date for Brexit (Britain’s official exit) is set for December 31^st, 2020, meaning Brexit will finally go into effect on January 1^st, 2021.  
• Because negotiations remain ongoing, it is unclear what the absolute and final Brexit agreement will look like until it occurs. At this point, however, we do have some idea of what the travel rights and privileges for U.K. citizens will look like under Brexit, as well as how travel to the U.K. will change, which we will examine below. 

UK Passport Brexit: Before 

• Despite its previous EU membership, the U.K. has remained one of the few major countries in Europe that was never a part of the Schengen area; a 26-country bloc that includes France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. 
• Despite not being part of the Schengen area, the UK is one of the non-Schengen/EU states which enjoys visa-free access to the Schengen area.  
• Currently, UK passport holders have visa-free access to the Schengen area. This means that if you are a British citizen, you do not need a visa in order to enter any of the Schengen Member States. 

UK Passport Brexit: After

• Post Brexit, U.K. citizens will retain their visa-free access to the Schengen area for short stays (90 days within a 180-day period). Therefore, if you are a UK citizen, you will not need a visa for short visits to the Schengen area after Brexit (January 1^st, 2021). 
• If, after January 1^st, 2021, you are a UK citizen who wants to stay in the Schengen area for longer than 90 days, you will have to apply for a long-term visa from whatever Schengen state in which you seek to stay. Therefore, come January 1^st, your UK passport post Brexit will not be enough to let you remain in the Schengen area for longer than 90 days. 
• When it comes to their own citizens, EU and Schengen states have a common entry, travel, and residency policy for citizens of fellow EU and Schengen states. For example, citizens of France seeking long stays in Germany will be subject to the same residency conditions/restrictions as other EU states. When the U.K. officially leaves the EU, its citizens will be subject to a different set of conditions as third country (non-Schengen/non-EU) nationals, and may need to apply for a kind of European visa for UK citizens, depending on how long they intend to remain in the EU. 
• For example, German citizens who seek to enter and remain in France for long stays (over 90 days) do not need a visa. In contrast, UK citizens who seek to remain in France for longer than 90 days will need a visa to do so after January 1^st, regardless of why they need to stay in the country, in what amounts to a restriction on the UK passport after Brexit. 
• Another example: U.K. citizens who are in the Netherlands will need to apply for a residence document prior to July 1^st, 2021 in order to continue living in the country, while UK travelers hoping to travel to Holland for long-term study, work, or residency purposes will also have to apply for residence. 
• EU citizens have the right to permanent residency in any EU country where they have lived consistently for the past 5 years. After January 31^st, UK citizens will lose this right. 

Travelling to UK before Brexit

• Because the UK was not part of the Schengen area prior to Brexit, it did not allow citizens of the EU to enter the country without a passport, meaning that if you were, for example, a French citizen, you could not travel to the U.K. without a passport. In contrast, French citizens travelling to Germany could enter the country without a passport because Germany (as a Schengen Member State) allows passport-free entry to EU citizens. 
• Prior to December 31^st, Schengen visa holders will not need a visa in order to enter the U.K. for short stays. Read our blog about: What will Brexit mean for Schengen visa holders?
• If you are travelling to the UK as an EU/Schengen citizen for the purpose of marrying in the country, you do not need a visa.  

Travelling to UK after Brexit

• As of right now, the conditions and restrictions that apply to non-EU/non-Schengen foreigners seeking to travel to the UK will remain largely the same after Brexit. 
• In contrast, as of January 1^st, 2021, new conditions/restrictions will go into immediate effect for EU/Schengen citizens traveling to the UK after Brexit. 
• Prior to Brexit, as a member of the EU, the UK allowed visa-free access to fellow EU members. Now that the UK has left the EU, its relationship with EU countries and its citizens has fundamentally changed. 
• Ultimately, traveling to the UK after Brexit will be the same for the majority of European passport holders who wish to remain in the country for short stays (under 90 days) for the purpose of tourism, medical reasons, study, to visit family members, for un-paid business purposes, for the purpose of transiting to another country, or for conducting diplomatic business.
• As an EU/Schengen citizen, you WILL need a visa for short stays if you are coming to the UK to work in the country – even if you are staying less than 6 months. This is one of the major travel changes that will affect EU/Schengen citizens traveling to UK after Brexit for the purpose of work.
• Additionally, citizens of the EU and the Schengen area who are living in the UK will have to apply for a new permanent residency document after December 31^st, 2021 in order to keep living there lawfully, via the EU Settlement Scheme. 
• After July 2021, if you are travelling to the UK as an EU/Schengen citizen for the purpose of marrying in the country, you must apply for a Marriage Visitor Visa.