UK And Ireland To Consider New Passport Regulations

The new Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system in the UK is being discussed by UK and Irish authorities.

Visitors from outside of the UK and Ireland will need to apply for and get an ETA visa in order to visit the country. Currently, non-Irish nationals who are legal residents of Ireland will require an ETA in order to enter into Northern Ireland. The discussions centre on figuring out a way to exclude such people.

According to the Common Travel Area, an existing migration deal between the UK and Ireland, Irish nationals do not need an ETA to travel to the UK (CTA). But, a legitimate Irish inhabitant would require an ETA to go over the border into Northern Ireland for any purpose, even if it's only to do a few errands.

The move is considered in order to "ensure the realities of everyday cross-border movement are addressed in the ETA system," the UK immigration minister said in a recent message to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of Parliament.

Northern Ireland's tourist sector has also been lobbying for ETA waivers impacting foreign tourists who fly into Dublin and then want to go to Northern Ireland.

The chief executive of Tourism Ireland said in January that travel operators might remove Northern Ireland from their packages to prevent possible issues with the Electronic Travel Authorization.

"The best outcome is that it doesn't apply to Northern Ireland but at a minimum you want some kind of waiver allowable for a certain number of days", added Niall Gibbons.

However, Jenrick's statement implies that the administration prefers a public education campaign over an exemption.

"A clear communications strategy will be key to tackling any misunderstanding about the final agreed requirements for travel into Northern Ireland.

"This will include ensuring that foreign nationals visiting the island of Ireland, who enter via the Republic of Ireland, are aware of the ETA requirements affecting them if they wish to cross the border", he concluded.

Also, Robert Jenrick stated that talks should also clarify the situation in which there is opportunity for a practical UK-Ireland data-sharing mechanism to assess whether a person is a legitimate resident of Ireland and may, thus, possibly be excluded from the ETA.

 

Source: bbc.com