Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the requirement that EU visitors must have a passport rather than an ID card on the number of (a) EU tourists and (b) EU school parties coming to the UK.

EEA identity cards are among the least secure documents seen at the UK border and are, as a rule, not as secure as corresponding national passports. They continue to dominate detection figures for document abuse at the border.

The Government is committed to strengthening the security of our border, so will phase out the use of EU, other EEA and Swiss national identity cards as a valid travel document for entry to the UK from 1 October 2021.

We do not accept identity cards as a travel document from any other nationalities. We expect people who visit the UK from outside the EU (including the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to hold a passport and we will now expect those visiting from EU countries to do the same. Using a passport also means EU nationals making a short visit can also use e-gates where available for a quicker and easier arrival experience.

We have provided almost a year’s notice for this change to allow people to plan ahead and obtain a passport, if they need to, before they travel.