Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to take steps to ensure parity in travel requirements for school groups travelling to the UK from (a) Germany and (b) other EU member states with those from France.

Visitors from outside the EU are expected to hold a passport (and visa where necessary) and those visiting from EU countries are now expected to do the same.

In implementing changes to document acceptability policy following the UK’s exit from the EU, a full impact assessment was carried out which can be found at the following link: Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk). This assessment also acknowledged the end of the List of Travellers arrangements.

At the Leaders’ Summit in Paris on 10 March 2023, as part of an overall agreement on migration reached with France, the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. This agreement is specific to France.

As a result of changes to the Immigration Rules that came into effect on 28 December 2023, we now permit the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waive UK visa requirements for their visa national classmates. When travelling, their responsible adults must be in possession of a fully completed and authenticated form listing the participants on the trip. French schools are able to access the form online from gov.uk.

A number of countries in the EU already offer an exemption to visa requirements for children travelling as part of a school trip from the UK, and the details of those countries is published by the EU Commission.

There are no current plans, or ongoing negotiations, to extend the arrangement with France to other countries but, in the context of wider agreements on migration related issues, we would consider negotiating with other countries should they approach us with an interest in making similar arrangements.