Simon Calder's travel question of the week: What will Brexit mean for British travellers and their passports?
Simon Calder investigates the prospect of tougher bureaucracy for travellers
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Your support makes all the difference.Plenty of people have been asking: what will life will be like for British travellers after Brexit? In truth, it’s still very hazy. But reports suggest that red tape for travellers could get significantly more tangled, with UK passport holders needing to apply online to visit Europe.
Such a move could increase the cost as well as complexity of holidays and business trips. With an EU passport, as the British travel document currently is, there are currently minimal formalities. If you’re travelling to Europe by ferry or train, you just need to show your UK passport. Airlines have to collect “advance passenger information” to provide to national governments for security purposes, but the process is light touch. And of course British passport holders can use the “fast-track” lanes for EU citizens and a few other lucky nationalities.
Could all that change? What ultimately happens depends on whether the EU decides the UK should be granted special status, or whether we should be regarded as outsiders.
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