Ms Rudd also responded to concerns that the number of student visas available to people coming to the United Kingdom from non-EU countries could be reduced in order to cut immigration numbers. “It’s a reminder that this is a two-way negotiation”.
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A Schengen visa for an adult now costs €60 (£50) and Brussels is looking at creating a visa waiver programme similar to the Esta scheme used by the US.
British tourists may have to pay visa fees to visit European Union countries as ministers get set to tackle the issue of post-Brexit border controls.Home secretary Amber Rudd said she could not rule out such fees to enter the EU and pointed out that the United Kingdom was in a “two way negotiation” with the EU over the terms of Brexit.
Named the EU Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), it would apply to travellers entering the EU whereby Britons would be treated like residents of any other non-EU country and apply online in advance and pay a fee.
British residents made more than 30 million holiday trips to European Union countries past year, with Spain (13m visits) and France (8.8m) the most popular destinations, according to official statistics.
Negotiations will not begin before next year, meaning the two-year process could end in 2019 just months before the next election, due in May 2020.
The Guardian reports that France and Germany favour a system that would require people to apply for a visa at least 72 hours before travelling, at a proposed cost of £10 ($13.20).
The home secretary said she could not rule out the introduction of a scheme which would force those outside the European Union to pay for short-term visas to visit countries such as France.
It is thought the only guaranteed way for British citizens to avoid the system would be to accept a Norway-style deal allowing free movement, something Theresa May has rejected.
Andy Burnham, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said a charge on British people wanting to head across the channel on vacation would make it harder for ordinary families to afford a holiday.
As previously reported, the European Commission is reportedly considering the introduction of a visa programme for the Schengen zone, a passport-free area made up of 26 European countries.
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Rudd, a close ally of May, backed the government’s long-standing target of bringing net annual migration into Britain, now at 327,000, down below 100,000.
