POST-Brexit biometric border controls are threatening the viability of a scheme which allows French nationals to make day trips to the Island using their ID cards.
At a Scrutiny hearing this week, Customs and Immigration assistant director Andy Hunt said that officials were in discussion with the UK Home Office to negotiate allowing the scheme to remain – but that there was “no firm answer” yet.
The UK government recently launched the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is a new requirement for non-visa nationals visiting the country.
While some countries need to apply for this digital permission already, the ETA is due to be rolled out to the rest of the world, including EU countries, later this year – and applicants will need a valid biometric passport to travel to the Common Travel Area, which includes Jersey.
Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said in the hearing that the new border regulations could pose barriers to the scheme which currently allows French nationals to visit Jersey for a day-trip using their national identity cards.
First launched in April 2023 to combat a marked drop in the number of French visitors following Brexit, the scheme was then extended until September 2024 following its “success”.
Mr Hunt explained that French ID cards would fall outside the biometric requirements.
He said: “We’ve got a piece of work ongoing with the Home Office to look at whether the system can be amended in order to be able to take account of French ID cards, but we have no firm answer on that yet.”
Deputy Le Hegarat added that there was “no possibility” of extending the scheme to 72 hours, after the previous Home Affairs Minister asked her officers “to look into extending” the time visitors can stay in the Island.
She said: “We belong to the Common Travel Area and that means there are extra security risks in relation to ID cards.
“Therefore we are looking at the possibility of extending beyond September 2024, but the 72-hour suggestion was never a formal proposition brought forward and was never agreed by either us or anyone else.”
