I am traveling as a Belgian citizen after 28 March (brexit). Can I still enter with my identity card?
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We can be hopeful that ID cars will remain sufficient, but like any messy divorce it could get to the point where decisions are made in a tit-for-tat spiral.– o.m.Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:12
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1@o.m. Well since the UK doesn't have national IDs to begin with, it'd be hard to do tit-for-tat in that regard– CrazydreCommented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:27
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@Crazydre, in that case I wonder what the OP had in mind.– o.m.Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:32
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1@Crazydre, quite a lot of EU27 countries promise not to deport Britons, provided there is "reciprocity." Nice if it works, but there could be a downward spiral if initial measures are not quite equivalent and then the states "retaliate."– o.m.Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:45
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3Is there any reason for not bringing a passport, just in case?– giddsCommented Feb 10, 2019 at 13:55
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3 Answers
Yes you can. Per a policy paper, in case of no-deal, EU IDs will be accepted until at least 2021. After that, it depends on what the government deicdes then.
answered Feb 9, 2019 at 11:03
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3That policy paper is the policy of a government which had some (we know now) unrealistic assumptions about how much it would get to decide how Brexit plays out. The promises in it may be earnestly meant, but by now I'm skeptical about the government's ability to deliver on those promises if it keeps being unable to get things through parliament. Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 18:39
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1@HenningMakholm Apparently it's from gov.uk/government/publications/…, December 2018, which makes it at least a little credible. I've struggled to find the actual legal text about which documents are accepted, but I think it's something that doesn't change overnight on 29 March, at least.– mysteryCommented Feb 9, 2019 at 20:35
Membership in the EU is not a requirement for accepting identity cards. As an example, Turkey accepts Belgian identity cards despite not being an EU member. The UK itself likewise accepts ID cards from Monaco, which is not an EU member.
So there is an extremely high probability that you'll be fine at least until the end of the year. There's absolutely no reason for the UK to stop accepting ID cards all of a sudden.
answered Feb 10, 2019 at 1:43
I think everybody wants it to be simple for EU citizens to travel to the UK (and the other way), but as far as I have heard they haven't made any official agreements yet (I'm sure there's not a complete solution to all of the issues brexit raises, but not if any agreements have been made that would cover this or other small areas, to prevent some chaos), and without one you won't be able to.
answered Feb 9, 2019 at 10:12
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3It doesn't have to be an agreement. Several countries accept EU IDs per unilateral government decisions. And per a Home Office policy paper, even in case of no deal EU IDs will be accepted until at least 2021– CrazydreCommented Feb 9, 2019 at 11:01
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You're right, it doesn't have to be an agreement, but in many cases policies like that is the result of an agreement. It is a bit rare that a government says, well country X won't allow our citizens to visit them without a visa, but we'll accept that their citizens visit our country. In this case we can only guess at what will happen, but as I wrote in the answer I think everybody wants it to be simple, ans as you pointed out in your answer the UK government has stated that they intend to continue accepting EU ids, but as things go over there, who knows... Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 11:32
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1It's not rare at all. For long, Bosnians, Montenegrins and Georgians needed a visa for Schengen, but EU citizens could use ID cards for Bosnia/Georgia/Montenegro. Turks currently need a visa for Schengen, but 12 EU/Schengen nationalities can use ID cards. Kosovans currently need visas for Schengen but EU/Schengen ID cards are accepted for Kosovo.– CrazydreCommented Feb 10, 2019 at 12:29