Common Travel Area
Encyclopedia
The Common Travel Area is a passport-free zone that comprises the islands of Ireland
, Great Britain
, the Isle of Man
and the Channel Islands
. The area's internal borders are subject to minimal or non-existent border controls and can normally be crossed by Irish and British citizens with only minimal identity document
s, although the use of a passport is required by the budget airline Ryanair
. The maintenance of the Area involves considerable co-operation on immigration matters between the British and the Irish authorities.
The Irish government has imposed immigration controls on people entering the state from the United Kingdom since 1997. These controls have been compulsory for air travellers, selective on sea crossings and occasional for land crossings. In 2008, the British government announced that it planned to impose similar controls on travellers entering the United Kingdom, which would, if implemented, effectively bring an end to the passport-free zone.
seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922 at a time when the imposition of systematic passport and immigration controls was becoming standard at international frontiers. Although the British had imposed entry controls in the pastnotably during the French Revolutionthe imposition of such controls in the twentieth century dated from the enactment of the Aliens Act 1905
, before which there was a system of registration for arriving foreigners.
Prior to the creation of the Irish Free State British immigration law was enforced in Ireland in the same way as in the rest of the United Kingdom. With the imminent prospect of Irish independence in 1922, the British Home Office was disinclined to impose passport and immigration controls between the Irish Free State
and Northern Ireland
. Doing so would have meant patrolling a porous and meandering land border. If, however, the pre-1922 situation were to be continued, the Irish immigration authorities would have to continue to enforce British immigration policy after independence. The Irish Department for Home Affairs was found to be receptive to continuing with the status quo and an informal agreement to this effect was reached between the two sides in February 1923. Under this agreement, each side would enforce the other's immigration decisions and the Irish authorities would be provided with a copy of Britain's suspect-codex (or 'Black Book') of any persona non grata
in the United Kingdom.
The agreement was initially provided for in UK law by deeming the Irish Free State to be part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of immigration law. It was fully implemented in 1925 when legislation passed in both countries provided for the recognition of the other's landing conditions for foreigners. This may be considered to have been the high point of the Common Travel Areaalthough it was not called that at the timeas it almost amounted to a common immigration area. A foreigner who had been admitted to one state could, unless his or her admission had been conditional upon not entering the other state, travel to the other with only minimal bureaucratic requirements.
The Common Travel Area was suspended on the outbreak of war in 1939, when travel restrictions were introduced between Great Britain and Ireland.
population.
No agreement on a similar immigration policy was publicised at the time, but a year after the then Irish Minister for Justice referred to the lifting of immigration controls between the two islands as "a matter for the British themselves", the British began referring to the Common Travel Area in legislation for the first time. The content of the agreement appears to be that a foreigner would be refused entry to the United Kingdom if he or she wished to travel onward to Ireland (and vice-versa) and is provided for in relevant immigration law.
The Common Travel Area has meant that Ireland has been required to follow changes in British immigration policy. This was notable in 1962 when Irish law was changed in response to the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
. The Act imposed immigration controls between the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries while in Ireland the Aliens Order 1962 replaced the state's previous provision exempting all British subject
s from immigration control, with one exempting only those born in the United Kingdom. The scope of the Irish provision was much more restrictive than the British legislation as it excluded from immigration control those in the United Kingdom who were not British citizens. This discrepancy between Britain's definition of a British citizen with a right to abode in the United Kingdom and Ireland's definition was not resolved until 1999.
nationals. There now are identity checks at least for air travel, and people exempt from immigration control must prove so with a valid identity document.
and Channel Islanders who are not entitled to take advantage of the European Union's freedom of movement
provisionsare exempt from immigration control and immune from deportation. They have, with limited exceptions, never been treated as foreigners under Irish law.
s. After Ireland left the Commonwealth of Nations
in that year, British law was amended to give Irish citizens a similar status to Commonwealth citizen
s in the United Kingdom, notwithstanding that they had ceased to be such. Thus, much like British citizens in Ireland, Irish citizens in the United Kingdom have never been treated like foreigners. Irish citizens have, however, like Commonwealth citizens, been subject to immigration control in Britain since the enactment of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
. Unlike Commonwealth citizens however, Irish citizens have generally not been subject to entry control in the United Kingdom and have a presumed indefinite leave to remain
if they move to the UK. They may, however, be subject to deportation from the UK upon the same lines as other European Economic Area
nationals. In February 2007 the British government announced that a specially lenient procedure would apply to the deportation of Irish citizens compared to a more rigorous procedure for other European Economic Area nationals.
other than British and Irish nationals have the right to freely enter and reside in the United Kingdom and Ireland under European Union law
. Such nationals are required to carry a valid travel document
, be that a passport
or a national identity card for both entering the Common Travel Area and for travelling between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
, the Common Travel Area provides no mechanism for the mutual recognition of leave to enter and remain, and the United Kingdom and Ireland operate entirely separate visa systems with distinct entry requirements. In general, a United Kingdom visa will not allow a traveller entry to Ireland, nor vice-versa.
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man allow entry to holders of United Kingdom visas (with some exceptions). Guernsey and Jersey immigration authorities routinely check non-EEA nationals seeking to enter the UK via the crown dependencies to ensure they have valid UK permisions.
However, as of July 2011 Ireland has introduced a limited, pilot visa waiver programme under which the normal requirement for certain nationalities to hold an Irish visa is waived for visitors to the UK who hold valid UK visas.
signed the Schengen Agreement
on the gradual dropping of border controls between their respective countries. This treaty and its implementation convention of 1990 would pave the way for the creation of the Schengen Area
. Although not implemented until 1995, two years later during the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference, all European Union
member states except the United Kingdom and Ireland, plus two non-member states Norway
and Iceland
, had signed the Schengen Agreement. During those negotiations, which led to Amsterdam Treaty
and the incorporation of Schengen into the main body of European Union law, Britain and Ireland obtained an opt-out affirming their right to maintain systematic passport and immigration controls at their frontiers. If the United Kingdom or Ireland were to join Schengen, the Common Travel Area would come to an end. If one were to join without the other, the joining country would have to exercise border controls vis-à-vis the other thus ending the zone. If both were to join all the functions of the area would be subsumed into the Schengen provisions and the Area would cease to have any separate existence.
The British government has always refused to lower its border controls as it believes that the island status of the Common Travel Area puts the United Kingdom in a better position to enforce immigration controls than mainland European countries with "extensive and permeable land borders". In contrast Ireland, while not signing the Schengen Treaty, has always looked more favourably on joining but has not done so in order to maintain the Common Travel Area and its open border with Northern Ireland
, though in 1997 Ireland imposed selective identity and immigration controls on anyone arriving from the United Kingdom, measures that would not have been permitted if both countries were part of the Schengen Area. The Irish position is reflected in the Schengen opt-out secured by the United Kingdom and Ireland in the Amsterdam Treaty. While the protocol applies unconditionally to the United Kingdom, it only applies to Ireland while the Common Travel Area is maintained.
from the United Kingdom
by air now pass through Irish border controls, administered by the Garda National Immigration Bureau
(GNIB). While British citizens are not required to be in possession of a valid travel document as a condition of entry to Ireland, they may be required to satisfy immigration officials as to their nationality.
on all flights and sea journeys between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain.
While passport controls were planned to be brought in between the United Kingdom and Ireland, the nature of possible identity controls between Great Britain on the one hand, and the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Northern Ireland on the other, is not altogether clear. The last of these is the most controversial as Northern Ireland is a constituent part of the United Kingdom, with a prominent Ulster Unionist describing the proposed arrangements as "intolerable and preposterous". The nature of identity checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was characterised by the British government as follows:
As far as the land border is concerned, the UK Border Agency indicated that the border would be "lightly controlled" and a joint statement in 2008 by both governments confirmed that there are no plans for fixed controls on either side of the border.
On 1 April 2009, an amendment moved by Lord Glentoran
in the House of Lords
defeated the British Government's proposal and preserved the Common Travel Area. The same clause—which Lord Glentoran thought would weaken the Common Travel Area—was successfully re-introduced by Home Office minister Phil Woolas
in the Public Bill Committee in June, but again removed in July after opposition pressure.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
and the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. The area's internal borders are subject to minimal or non-existent border controls and can normally be crossed by Irish and British citizens with only minimal identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
s, although the use of a passport is required by the budget airline Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
. The maintenance of the Area involves considerable co-operation on immigration matters between the British and the Irish authorities.
The Irish government has imposed immigration controls on people entering the state from the United Kingdom since 1997. These controls have been compulsory for air travellers, selective on sea crossings and occasional for land crossings. In 2008, the British government announced that it planned to impose similar controls on travellers entering the United Kingdom, which would, if implemented, effectively bring an end to the passport-free zone.
The 1923 agreement
The Irish Free StateIrish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922 at a time when the imposition of systematic passport and immigration controls was becoming standard at international frontiers. Although the British had imposed entry controls in the pastnotably during the French Revolutionthe imposition of such controls in the twentieth century dated from the enactment of the Aliens Act 1905
Aliens Act 1905
The Aliens Act 1905 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act for the first time introduced immigration controls and registration, and gave the Home Secretary overall responsibility for immigration and nationality matters...
, before which there was a system of registration for arriving foreigners.
Prior to the creation of the Irish Free State British immigration law was enforced in Ireland in the same way as in the rest of the United Kingdom. With the imminent prospect of Irish independence in 1922, the British Home Office was disinclined to impose passport and immigration controls between the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Doing so would have meant patrolling a porous and meandering land border. If, however, the pre-1922 situation were to be continued, the Irish immigration authorities would have to continue to enforce British immigration policy after independence. The Irish Department for Home Affairs was found to be receptive to continuing with the status quo and an informal agreement to this effect was reached between the two sides in February 1923. Under this agreement, each side would enforce the other's immigration decisions and the Irish authorities would be provided with a copy of Britain's suspect-codex (or 'Black Book') of any persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
in the United Kingdom.
The agreement was initially provided for in UK law by deeming the Irish Free State to be part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of immigration law. It was fully implemented in 1925 when legislation passed in both countries provided for the recognition of the other's landing conditions for foreigners. This may be considered to have been the high point of the Common Travel Areaalthough it was not called that at the timeas it almost amounted to a common immigration area. A foreigner who had been admitted to one state could, unless his or her admission had been conditional upon not entering the other state, travel to the other with only minimal bureaucratic requirements.
The Common Travel Area was suspended on the outbreak of war in 1939, when travel restrictions were introduced between Great Britain and Ireland.
The 1952 agreement
After the war, the Irish re-instated their previous provisions allowing free movement. However the British declined to do so pending the agreement of a "similar immigration policy" in both countries. Consequently the British maintained immigration controls between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain up until 1952, to the consternation of Northern Ireland's UnionistUnionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
population.
No agreement on a similar immigration policy was publicised at the time, but a year after the then Irish Minister for Justice referred to the lifting of immigration controls between the two islands as "a matter for the British themselves", the British began referring to the Common Travel Area in legislation for the first time. The content of the agreement appears to be that a foreigner would be refused entry to the United Kingdom if he or she wished to travel onward to Ireland (and vice-versa) and is provided for in relevant immigration law.
The Common Travel Area has meant that Ireland has been required to follow changes in British immigration policy. This was notable in 1962 when Irish law was changed in response to the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Before the Act was passed, citizens of British commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK...
. The Act imposed immigration controls between the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries while in Ireland the Aliens Order 1962 replaced the state's previous provision exempting all British subject
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
s from immigration control, with one exempting only those born in the United Kingdom. The scope of the Irish provision was much more restrictive than the British legislation as it excluded from immigration control those in the United Kingdom who were not British citizens. This discrepancy between Britain's definition of a British citizen with a right to abode in the United Kingdom and Ireland's definition was not resolved until 1999.
Application
While British and Irish citizens enjoy the right to live in each other's countries under European Union law, the provisions that apply to them are generally more far-reaching than those that apply to other European Economic AreaEuropean Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
nationals. There now are identity checks at least for air travel, and people exempt from immigration control must prove so with a valid identity document.
British citizens in Ireland
Under Irish law, all British citizensincluding Manx peopleManx people
The Manx are an ethnic group coming from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea in northern Europe. They are often described as a Celtic people, though they have had a mixed background including Norse and English influences....
and Channel Islanders who are not entitled to take advantage of the European Union's freedom of movement
Four Freedoms (European Union)
The European Union's Internal Market seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people – the EU's four freedoms – within the EU's 27 member states.The Internal Market is intended to be conducive to increased competition, increased specialisation, larger...
provisionsare exempt from immigration control and immune from deportation. They have, with limited exceptions, never been treated as foreigners under Irish law.
Irish citizens in Britain
Before 1949, all Irish citizens were considered by British law to be British subjectBritish subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
s. After Ireland left the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
in that year, British law was amended to give Irish citizens a similar status to Commonwealth citizen
Commonwealth citizen
A Commonwealth citizen, which replaces the former category of British subject, is generally a person who is a national of any country within the Commonwealth of Nations....
s in the United Kingdom, notwithstanding that they had ceased to be such. Thus, much like British citizens in Ireland, Irish citizens in the United Kingdom have never been treated like foreigners. Irish citizens have, however, like Commonwealth citizens, been subject to immigration control in Britain since the enactment of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Before the Act was passed, citizens of British commonwealth countries had extensive rights to migrate to the UK...
. Unlike Commonwealth citizens however, Irish citizens have generally not been subject to entry control in the United Kingdom and have a presumed indefinite leave to remain
Indefinite leave to remain
Indefinite leave to remain is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold right of abode in the United Kingdom , but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on his or her stay and who is free to take up employment or study, without restriction...
if they move to the UK. They may, however, be subject to deportation from the UK upon the same lines as other European Economic Area
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
nationals. In February 2007 the British government announced that a specially lenient procedure would apply to the deportation of Irish citizens compared to a more rigorous procedure for other European Economic Area nationals.
Other European Economic Area nationals
Nationals of member states of the European Economic AreaEuropean Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
other than British and Irish nationals have the right to freely enter and reside in the United Kingdom and Ireland under European Union law
European Union law
European Union law is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law...
. Such nationals are required to carry a valid travel document
Travel document
A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international treaty organization to facilitate the movement of individuals or small groups of persons across international boundaries...
, be that a passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
or a national identity card for both entering the Common Travel Area and for travelling between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Other nationalities
While the Common Travel Area has, for most of its history, involved an open or relatively open border, this has not, since the Second World War, meant that someone who legally entered one part of the Area was automatically entitled to enter the another part. Unlike the Schengen AgreementSchengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
, the Common Travel Area provides no mechanism for the mutual recognition of leave to enter and remain, and the United Kingdom and Ireland operate entirely separate visa systems with distinct entry requirements. In general, a United Kingdom visa will not allow a traveller entry to Ireland, nor vice-versa.
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man allow entry to holders of United Kingdom visas (with some exceptions). Guernsey and Jersey immigration authorities routinely check non-EEA nationals seeking to enter the UK via the crown dependencies to ensure they have valid UK permisions.
However, as of July 2011 Ireland has introduced a limited, pilot visa waiver programme under which the normal requirement for certain nationalities to hold an Irish visa is waived for visitors to the UK who hold valid UK visas.
The Common Travel Area and the Schengen Area
In 1985 five member states of the then European Economic CommunityEuropean Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
signed the Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
on the gradual dropping of border controls between their respective countries. This treaty and its implementation convention of 1990 would pave the way for the creation of the Schengen Area
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
. Although not implemented until 1995, two years later during the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference, all European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member states except the United Kingdom and Ireland, plus two non-member states Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, had signed the Schengen Agreement. During those negotiations, which led to Amsterdam Treaty
Amsterdam Treaty
The Amsterdam Treaty, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty of the European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; it made substantial changes to the Maastricht Treaty,...
and the incorporation of Schengen into the main body of European Union law, Britain and Ireland obtained an opt-out affirming their right to maintain systematic passport and immigration controls at their frontiers. If the United Kingdom or Ireland were to join Schengen, the Common Travel Area would come to an end. If one were to join without the other, the joining country would have to exercise border controls vis-à-vis the other thus ending the zone. If both were to join all the functions of the area would be subsumed into the Schengen provisions and the Area would cease to have any separate existence.
The British government has always refused to lower its border controls as it believes that the island status of the Common Travel Area puts the United Kingdom in a better position to enforce immigration controls than mainland European countries with "extensive and permeable land borders". In contrast Ireland, while not signing the Schengen Treaty, has always looked more favourably on joining but has not done so in order to maintain the Common Travel Area and its open border with Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, though in 1997 Ireland imposed selective identity and immigration controls on anyone arriving from the United Kingdom, measures that would not have been permitted if both countries were part of the Schengen Area. The Irish position is reflected in the Schengen opt-out secured by the United Kingdom and Ireland in the Amsterdam Treaty. While the protocol applies unconditionally to the United Kingdom, it only applies to Ireland while the Common Travel Area is maintained.
Border controls
In Ireland
In 1997, Ireland changed its immigration legislation to allow immigration officers to examine (i.e. request identity documents from) travellers arriving in the state from elsewhere in the Common Travel Area and to refuse them permission to land if they are not entitled to enter. Although this is stated to apply only to people other than Irish and British citizens, both of the latter groups are effectively covered as they may be required to produce identity documents to prove that they are entitled to the Common Travel Area arrangements. Although it is difficult to be exact about the nature of current border checks fixed controls are only maintained at ports and airports while targeted controls are conducted along the land border in what are referred to as "intelligence driven operations". All passengers arriving in IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by air now pass through Irish border controls, administered by the Garda National Immigration Bureau
Garda National Immigration Bureau
The Garda National Immigration Bureau is a unit of An Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The GNIB is responsible for the execution of deportation orders, investigation of human trafficking complaints, investigation of language schools, countering illegal immigration and border...
(GNIB). While British citizens are not required to be in possession of a valid travel document as a condition of entry to Ireland, they may be required to satisfy immigration officials as to their nationality.
Attempted introduction in the United Kingdom
In July 2008, the UK Border Agency published a consultation paper on the Common Travel Area that envisaged the imposition of identity and immigration controls on all air and sea crossings between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. Being part of the proposed electronic borders system, these controls would be accompanied by an Advance Passenger Information SystemAdvance Passenger Information System
The Advanced Passenger Information System , also Advance Passenger Information System, is a system established for commercial airline and vessel operators by the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency ....
on all flights and sea journeys between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain.
While passport controls were planned to be brought in between the United Kingdom and Ireland, the nature of possible identity controls between Great Britain on the one hand, and the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Northern Ireland on the other, is not altogether clear. The last of these is the most controversial as Northern Ireland is a constituent part of the United Kingdom, with a prominent Ulster Unionist describing the proposed arrangements as "intolerable and preposterous". The nature of identity checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was characterised by the British government as follows:
- "Section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 introduced a new power that will allow the police to capture passenger, crew and service information on air and sea journeys within the United Kingdom. ... It is expected that this police power will only apply to air and sea routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Passengers will not be required to use passports, but may be required to produce one of several types of documentation, including passports, when travelling, to enable the carrier to the meet the requirements of a police request."
As far as the land border is concerned, the UK Border Agency indicated that the border would be "lightly controlled" and a joint statement in 2008 by both governments confirmed that there are no plans for fixed controls on either side of the border.
On 1 April 2009, an amendment moved by Lord Glentoran
Robin Dixon, 3rd Baron Glentoran
Major Thomas "Robin" Valerian Dixon, 3rd Baron Glentoran CBE is a former British bobsledder and Northern Irish politician, known as Robin Dixon. He is a former Conservative Party Shadow Minister for the Olympics....
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
defeated the British Government's proposal and preserved the Common Travel Area. The same clause—which Lord Glentoran thought would weaken the Common Travel Area—was successfully re-introduced by Home Office minister Phil Woolas
Phil Woolas
Philip James Woolas was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth from his election in 1997 to 2010. He was the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration in the Home Office, as well as being the Minister of State for the Treasury...
in the Public Bill Committee in June, but again removed in July after opposition pressure.
See also
- British–Irish relations
- Foreign relations of the Republic of IrelandForeign relations of the Republic of IrelandThe foreign relations of Ireland are substantially influenced by its membership of the European Union, although bilateral relations with the United States and United Kingdom are also important to the country. It is one of the group of smaller nations in the EU, and has traditionally followed a...
- Foreign relations of the United KingdomForeign relations of the United KingdomThe diplomatic foreign relations of the United Kingdom are implemented by the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The UK was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout history it has wielded significant influence upon other nations via the British...
- Foreign relations of the Republic of Ireland
- Irish nationality lawIrish nationality lawIrish nationality law is the law of the Republic of Ireland governing citizenship. A person may be an Irish citizen through birth, descent, marriage to an Irish citizen or through naturalisation. Irish nationality law is currently contained in the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship...
- British nationality and the Republic of Ireland
- British nationality lawBritish nationality lawBritish nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
- Republic of Ireland-United Kingdom borderRepublic of Ireland-United Kingdom borderThe Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border is the boundary between the sovereign states of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...
- Schengen AgreementSchengen AgreementThe Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
- Schengen AreaSchengen AreaThe Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
- Nordic Passport UnionNordic Passport UnionThe Nordic Passport Union allows citizens of the Nordic countries: Denmark , Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland to travel and reside in other Nordic countries without a passport or a residence permit.- Establishment :...
- Visa policy in the European Union
- UK Immigration ServiceUK Immigration ServiceThe United Kingdom Immigration Service, , was the operational arm of the Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate...