What you need to enter the UK

If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

What you’ll need to enter the UK will not change until at least 2021.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips, without needing a visa.

You’ll need to show a valid passport or a national identity card if you’re a citizen of either:

• an EU country
• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland

You will not be able to use your EEA or Swiss national ID card to enter the UK from 1 October 2021.

You can continue to use your national ID card to enter the UK until at least 31 December 2025 if you:

• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• have a frontier worker permit
• are an S2 Healthcare Visitor
• are a Swiss Service Provider

You can use automatic eGates at some airports if you have a biometric symbol on the cover of your passport and you’re 12 or over. Using the eGates is usually faster. Find out how to get through border checks as quickly as possible.

There will be no routine immigration controls on journeys within the Common Travel Area, with none on the land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

You can still enter the UK using a passport which expires in less than 6 months. Find out more about entering the UK.

If you’re a non-EEA family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen

You’ll be able to enter the UK as you do now until December 2020.

Find out if you’ll need to apply for a visa to enter the UK.

School travellers entering the UK

Check our guidance for school children entering the UK as part of a school group, which covers school children who are of a non-EU, EEA or Swiss nationality.

This explains the steps leaders of school parties must take before bringing school children to the UK as part of a school group from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, if they would normally need a visa to enter the UK.

What you can bring into the UK

Find out:

• how you bring horses to and from the UK
• how you bring endangered plants, animals or their products to and from the UK
• what you can bring in your hand luggage
• what food you can bring
• what plants you can bring

Bringing your pet to and from the UK

Find out about pet travel to Europe.

Bringing goods into the UK

Find out about bringing goods into the UK.

Merchandise in baggage

Find out about roll on roll off ports.

Controls on cash

Individuals travelling from the EU to the UK with £10,000 or more in cash will need to make a declaration. Find out about taking cash in and out of the UK.

Healthcare in the UK

EEA and Swiss citizens visiting the UK should check the guidance on healthcare for the latest information on access to NHS healthcare.

Driving in the UK

If you have a non-UK licence

Visitors with a non-UK driving licence are able to drive in the UK. You do not need an international driving permit (IDP).

If your vehicle is not insured in the UK

If you have vehicle insurance issued in the EU, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia or Switzerland, you do not need to carry an insurance green card, but carrying other valid proof of insurance is advised.

To be valid, other proof of insurance must be a document issued by the insurer of the vehicle, which includes the:

• name of the insurer
• number plate or other identifying particulars of the vehicle
• period of insurance cover

Contact your vehicle insurer before you travel.

If your vehicle is insured in a country outside the EU, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia or Switzerland, what you’ll need to do will depend on if your country is a member of the green card system.

If your country is a member, you will need to carry a green card.

If your country is not a member, your vehicle will need UK vehicle insurance.

Using your mobile phone in the UK

You’ll pay the same for calls, texts and mobile data in the UK and the EU if you have a SIM card issued by a mobile phone network from an EU or EEA country.