The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.

comment

Brexit will really start to bite us in 2024. How ready are you?

Next year, British passport holders travelling to the EU will have their fingerprints taken and their faces scanned – but these are not the only new Brexit ‘freedoms’ we have to look forward to, says Femi Oluwole

Thursday 21 December 2023 17:38 GMT
Comments
<p>If Brexit made us a free country, why are we more locked in than ever? </p>

If Brexit made us a free country, why are we more locked in than ever?

Nothing says “freedom” like having your face and fingerprints scanned when you go abroad.

From next autumn, UK passport holders entering any of the EU’s 27 member states (except Ireland and Cyprus) and four non-EU countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) will first need to submit to biometric scanning.

There are always queues when Brits go on holiday – at Dover and Calais, at airport check-ins and arrivals. But they’ve got even longer since Brexit, which requires us to get our passports stamped to enter the EU. In October 2024, that will be replaced with fingerprint scanning and facial recognition at the 443 airports within the Schengen area, an even more involved process.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in