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You are here: Home > Visitor Information > Visiting Greater Manchester after Brexit
Please ensure you check the official UK Government website for updates prior to travelling.
You will need to show a valid passport or a national identity card if you’re a citizen of either:
• 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. After this date, you will need a valid passport to enter the UK.
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 still enter the UK using a passport which expires in less than 6 months. Find out more about entering the UK.
Currently, if you’re an EU, EEA and Swiss citizen, you can continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips without needing a visa. You can, in most cases, come to the UK for up to six months. You may enter the UK multiple times during that period, but you may not in effect live in the UK by means of repeat or continuous visits. You may not work or access public funds. Currently you may not study for more than 30 days. Please see the official government website for further information.
You can use automatic eGates at some airports if you have a biometric symbol on the cover of your passport and you are 12 or over. Using the eGates is usually faster.
As part of this phased programme to 2025, the Government will introduce an Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme as part of plans to ensure that all those coming to the UK have permission to do so in advance of travel. Please check for updates, as further details of these arrangements will be provided in due course.
The Government will introduce Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) for visitors and passengers transiting through the UK who do not currently need a visa for short stays or who do not already have an immigration status prior to travelling.
Please visit gov.uk for advice for EU citizens interested in living and working in the UK.
Nothing will change for non-EU/EEA visitors immediately after the transition period ends. Find out if you’ll need to apply for a visa to enter the UK.
For information on collective visas, please visit the official government website.
School children who are non-EEA nationals and are resident in an EEA country do not need a visa if visiting or transiting the UK as a member of an organised school group. Visit gov.uk for more information.
Yes, children travelling to the UK for language courses will also need a passport.
Flights: Flights will continue and you should not experience any difference in security screening.
Eurostar/rail: When travelling between the UK and the EU, your rights as a rail passenger using either domestic or cross-border rail services will remain unchanged.
Ferry services: The EU regulation on passengers’ rights is now UK law. It will continue to protect passengers on ferry services.
For further information on travel and passenger rights, and measures in place to minimise disruption, please see the official government information page.
The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Ireland that pre-dates both British and Irish membership of the EU and is not dependent on it. As a result, there will continue to be no routine immigration controls on journeys from within Ireland to the UK, with no immigration controls at all on the Northern Ireland – Ireland land border. The Government will continue to work closely with CTA partners to facilitate legitimate travel within the CTA while tackling abuse of these arrangements. You can check the common travel area guidance information page for additional details.
The Channel Islands, including Jersey and Guernsey, are part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) of the UK and therefore maintain the same changes and standard of immigration control as the UK.
The future of reciprocal healthcare arrangements between the UK and European Union are subject to negotiations. Please check the official government guidance for further information and updates.
For information on what to bring when you visit the UK, please check gov.uk.
Please check gov.uk for updates on changes following 1 January 2021. Please note, the information on EHICs is from gov.uk but is specific to England. The way visitors access healthcare in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland could be different from England, so please check the relevant websites for further information.
The government advises visitors to the UK to take out travel insurance. This means that you can reclaim any healthcare costs you are required to pay from your insurer.
Check your insurance has the necessary healthcare coverage to make sure you can get the treatment you need during your visit.
For further details, please ensure you check for updates on gov.uk before you travel.
Can visitors with a non-UK driving licence still drive in the UK?
If you have a non-UK driving licence you are able to drive in the UK. You do not need an international driving permit (IDP).
What will visitors whose vehicle is not insured in the UK need in order to drive?
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.
Attending a conference as a delegate from the EU
The UK has officially left the EU. If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss Citizen travelling to the UK for a short business trip or business event such as attending a conference or meeting, you do not need to apply for a visa. Your passport must however be valid for the whole time you are in the UK.
In most cases, you can stay for up to six months and you can participate in wide range of activities including meetings, events and conferences. You can enter the UK multiple times during this period. This Government advice page clearly breaks down the rules around visitor permitted activities; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-visitor-permitted-activities
As part of a phased programme to 2025, the Government will introduce an Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme as part of a plan to ensure that all those coming to the UK have permission to do so in advance of travel.
Above all else, we want to ensure that England remains open for business events and, when the time is right, we look forward to offering a warm welcome to our European delegates and organisations.
Do European speakers presenting at conferences held in the UK need a visa and if so what type of visa?
• If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss Citizen travelling to the UK for a short business trip or business event such as attending a conference or meeting, you do not need to apply for a visa.
• Under the UK’s new points-based immigration system, you can continue to visit the UK without applying for a visa. In most cases, you can stay for up to six months and you can participate in wide range of activities including meetings, events and conferences.
• You can enter the UK multiple times during this period.
• As part of a phased programme to 2025, the Government will introduce an Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme as part of a plan to ensure that all those coming to the UK have permission to do so in advance of travel.
If a European speaker is being paid by a UK company to speak at a conference, do they need to apply for a specific type of visa and if so, which visa?
If a speaker is being paid they will need a work permit. Relevant guidance for more information below:
• PA 4 of the Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities notes that a visitor to the UK may:
(a)attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews; and
(b) give a one-off or short series of talks and speeches provided these are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser;
• There do seem to be exemptions for professionals in academia & other professions - see Immigration Rules Appendix V: Visitor which states that the following are following are permitted paid engagements:
(a) an academic who is highly qualified within their field of expertise, coming to examine students and/or participate in or chair selection panels, and have been invited by a UK higher education institution, or a UK-based research or arts organisation as part of that institution or organisation’s quality assurance processes; and
(b) an expert coming to give lectures in their subject area, where they have been invited by a higher education institution; or a UK-based research or arts organisation, and this does not amount to filling a teaching position for the host organisation; and
• (c) an overseas designated pilot examiner coming to assess UK-based pilots to ensure they meet the national aviation regulatory requirements of other countries, where they have been invited by an approved training organisation based in the UK that is regulated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority for that purpose; and
(d) a qualified lawyer coming to provide advocacy for a court or tribunal hearing, arbitration or other form of dispute resolution for legal proceedings within the UK, where they have been invited by a client; and
(e) a professional artist, entertainer, or musician coming to carry out an activity directly relating to their profession, where they have been invited by a creative (arts or entertainment) organisation, agent or broadcaster based in the UK; and
(f) a professional sports person coming to carry out an activity directly relating to their profession, where they have been invited by a sports organisation, agent, or broadcaster based in the UK.
Movement of goods - What paper work is now required for the temporary movement of goods into the UK from EU member countries for promotional use on exhibition stands?
Temporary transportation of business samples and goods for exhibiting or conferencing and production materials and exhibition structures into the UK from the EU.
When temporarily transporting business samples/goods to the UK, you may be able to get import duty relief on goods using Temporary Admission:
Full relief can be given when these goods are:
• exhibited or used at a public event, not purely organised for commercial sale
• delivered by the owner for inspection to a person in the UK, who has the right to purchase them after inspection
• works of art, collectors’ items or antiques imported for an exhibition, with a view to possible sale, check the examples of acceptable goods below
Sample goods must be solely used for being shown or demonstrated in the UK. The imported sample quantities must be of a reasonable amount and in line with their use. You can be established in the UK to declare goods to this relief. Prior authorisation is needed.
Can visitors from the EU use their 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.
Will EU citizens still be able to bring their pet to the UK?
There will be no change to the current health preparations for pets entering Great Britain from the EU from 1 January 2021.
Your pet must have one of the following documents when entering to Great Britain:
• an EU pet passport (issued in the EU or in the UK before 1 January 2021)
• the AHC issued in Great Britain used to travel to the EU (which you can use up to 4 months after it was issued)
• a UK pet health certificate (for travel into the UK only)
Your pet will not need this documentation if it is entering Great Britain from:
• Northern Ireland
• the Channel Islands
• the Isle of Man
You must travel using approved routes, so please check the routes before you travel. Your pet’s documents and microchip will be checked when entering Great Britain. Different rules apply in Northern Ireland.
Owners of assistance dogs entering from the EU do not have to travel on approved routes but they must notify the point of entry in advance that they are travelling with an assistance dog to ensure the appropriate checks are done.
You do not have to travel on an approved route if you travel to Great Britain from:
• other UK countries
• the Channel Islands
• the Isle of Man
• the Republic of Ireland
Talk to your vet about what preparations you need to make before you travel from these places.
Find out more about pet travel to Europe, including information on travel from countries not free from tapeworm.
Will tax free shopping still be available?
The tax-free shopping scheme allowing retailers of goods sold in ports and airports to zero-rate VAT on sales to passengers departing for non-EU destinations will be withdrawn with effect from 1 January 2021 throughout the UK.
What can visitors bring into the UK?
What you can bring into the UK varies depending on whether you are visiting from an EU country or from outside the EU. Visit the official government website for further details on bringing goods into the UK.
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