Visa-waiver system could overwhelm UK immigration services, law firm warns
Share:
There are also fears electronic travel authorisation will threaten post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland. The UK Home Office’s already burdened immigration services could be overwhelmed this summer when a new visa-waiver system comes into force for European business travellers and tourists in April, a leading law firm has said.
There have also been fresh warnings that the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) requirements could threaten the post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland, with Americans and Europeans travelling to Dublin and beyond deciding not to bother crossing the border because of the red tape.
The ETA scheme, similar to the electronic system for travel authorisation system in the US, requires visitors who do not need a visa to enter Britain to acquire pre-travel authorisation online at a cost of £10. It was introduced for passengers from the United Arab Emirates last year and from Wednesday was expanded to include citizens of about 50 more countries and territories including Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Caribbean nations.
Nicolas Rollason, an immigration partner at the London law firm Kingsley Napley, said the real problems may not emerge until April when the ETA applies to those travelling by air, Eurostar or ferry. “The Home Office expects a vast number, 30 million, to apply for ETAs. If even a small portion of these, like 1%, get pushed into the visa system it is just going to overwhelm them. The biggest travel groups are from the US and Europe and this has the potential to create huge queues and backlogs in the visa system. It could be a disaster and cause all sort of knock-on problems,” said Rollason.
