GovWire

What you need to enter the UK

If youre an EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss citizen

Irish citizens can continue to enter and live in the UK.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can travel to the UK for holidays or short trips without needing a visa. In other cases, find out if you need to apply for a visa to enter the UK.

You can cross the UK border using a valid passport which should be valid for the whole time you are in the UK.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can continue to use the automatic ePassport gates to pass through the border on arrival.

You cannot use an EU, EEA or Swiss national ID card to enter the UK unless you:

• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Mans settlement schemes
• have an EU Settlement Scheme family permit, or the equivalent from Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man
• have a frontier worker permit
• are an S2 Healthcare Visitor
• are a Swiss national and have a Service Provider from Switzerland visa

In these cases, you can continue to use your national ID card to enter the UK until at least 31 December 2025.

If youre waiting for a decision on your application for settled or pre-settled status

You can still use your EEA or Swiss national identity card to enter the UK if all of the following are true:

• youve applied for settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Mans settlement schemes
• youve been issued with confirmation your application is valid
• youre not applying as a joining family member

Other types of cards

British citizens can continue to use a Gibraltar identity card to travel to the UK.

Irish citizens can continue to use a passport card to travel to the UK.

You must have the correct documents to show at the UK border if youre travelling to the UK. You cannot use any documents to enter the UK that are not listed here.

If youre a non-EEA family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

You need a valid national passport, and one of the following:

• an EU Settlement Scheme family permit
• an EU Settlement Scheme pre-settled or settled status

You cannot use an Article 10 or Article 20 residence card issued by an EEA member state.

If youre from a non-EEA country

Your passport (and visa if you have one) will be checked at border control. Youll usually be asked why youre coming to the UK.You can use the UK/EEA immigration lanes and the automatic ePassport gates if youre from:

• Australia
• Canada
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• South Korea
• United States

Travelling from within the Common Travel Area (CTA)

The Common Travel Area (CTA) is made up of the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man).

There are different document requirements if you are travelling to the UK within the CTA.

Business travel to the UK

If youre an EU, EEA or Swiss Citizen travelling to the UK for a short business trip, you may not need to apply for a visa.

Under the UKs 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 6 months. You may participate in a wide range of activities including business-related activities such as meetings, events and conferences. You may enter the UK multiple times during that period but you may not live in the UK by means of frequent or successive visits.

As a business visitor, you cannot:

• do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person
• do a work placement or internship
• sell directly to the public or provide goods and services

Read more about visiting the UK on a business trip and check whether you need to apply for a visa to carry out your intended activities.

Check the Visitor Rules and see the full list of business and academic activities you can do as a visitor to the UK.

Read more about what you can do when visiting from Ireland or one of the Crown Dependencies and check whether you need to apply for a visa.

Working in the UK or sending employees to work in the UK

If you require EU, EEA or Swiss citizens to work in the UK for longer than 6 months, they need to apply for a visa. Find out more about working in the UK.

If you employ or intend to employ an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who commutes to the UK, see the guidance for frontier workers.

Trading with the UK

EU business can find out more about trading with the UK.

Commercial goods (merchandise in baggage)

You must tell customs (declare) if you are bringing commercial goods into the UK in your accompanied baggage or small motor vehicle. Commercial goods are things to sell.

You need to make a full customs declaration if you are bringing commercial goods that are any of the follow

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