Can UK citizens still travel freely to Europe?

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Rules on travelling between the UK and European Union countries changed on the 1st January 2021 after an agreement to keep many rules the same for 11 months following Brexit.

Thus, it is not impossible to wonder if UK citizens can still travel to EU countries freely even with Brexit, the good news is that, yes, despite the exit of the UK from the European Union, UK passport holders can still travel anywhere to the EU member country without having to obtain a visa or a travel authorisation. This was one of the many advantages of being part of the European Union which allows the free movement of people between its Member States. However, according to withdrawal terms and conditions, this is to last for 11 months from the date of Brexit.

After several discussions on the Withdrawal Agreement between the European Commission and the government of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on 31st January 2021 after 47 years of membership. If you are looking to travel from the UK to any EU country, you should find medical travel insurance and pay for the right one. You can know which insurance company to patronize by reading reviews on Britainreviews.co.uk.

With Brexit, what are the implications to the citizens of the United Kingdom regarding travels?

Study

Despite Brexit, the existing travel policies between the United Kingdom and European Union is still in place. This means that citizens of the United Kingdom still travel freely to any country under European Union to study. All that is required is to be a carrier of the UK passport.

Work

Citizens of the United Kingdom still travel freely to any European Union member country to work.

Residency

Despite exiting the Union whose sole aim was to foster unity, oneness and promote economic growth amongst member countries, UK citizens are still free to travel to any European country and live either temporary or permanent as long as they have a UK passport.

However, due to the travel Covid19 pandemic, travel restrictions are still in force. According to the EU Covid-19 travel policy, only countries with low infection rates are exempted to travel to any of the countries.

In the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK government has three separate exit agreements with other 31 European countries that accept freedom of movement. Each agreement provides a strong level of protection for British citizens living or moving to any EU member country.

  • The Withdrawal Agreement guarantees British citizens (who are lawfully resident in EU member states) broadly the same rights as before. They can continue to live, work and travel freely conditioning that these rights would only cease after a leave of absence of more than five years). The same however would apply to British citizens moving to the EU member country even after exit.
  • A separate agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – three countries that are not in the EU but have freedom of movement as part of their membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). This agreement mirrors the offer in the Withdrawal Agreement.
  • An agreement with Switzerland – not in the EEA but accepts freedom of movement. It also mirrors the offer in the Withdrawal Agreement.

However, these agreements do not apply to British citizens who want to move to the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland for a particular period after Brexit. British citizens who are currently living in the EU, or who move there during the transition period, will need to apply for residence status in the country they are residing in by 30 June 2021. With the outbreak of CoViD-19, the EU confirmed that some member states were looking to extend this deadline as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The exact terms and procedures for settlement vary between EU countries.