Latest news with #FrenchIdentityCardScheme
ITV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Channel Islands wrestle to continue French day trip scheme without breaking ETA travel rules
The Government of Jersey says it plans to exempt French nationals from needing an ETA travel permit if they are visiting the island on their ID cards for a day trip. Politicians are set to approve the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme at a debate in September, with the new rules expected to come into force at the end of 2025 or the start of 2026. It would mean most foreign visitors have to pay £16 and complete an online form to enter the island from outside the Common Travel Area (CTA), bringing Jersey in line with UK policy. However, all ETA applications require a passport, which seemed to signal the end of the successful day-trippers scheme, where French visitors currently only need to show their ID card. Now, if the ETA is brought in, Jersey's government says it wants to change the island's immigration law so this initiative can continue outside of the new travel permit rules. Meanwhile, the President of Guernsey's Home Affairs Committee, Deputy Marc Leadbeater, says he has written to the UK Immigration Minister Seema Malhotra "outlining the Bailiwick's desire to continue with the French Identity Card Scheme into 2026, providing it does not place our membership of the CTA at risk". He adds: "The Committee has emphasised the safeguards in place to mitigate any risk of abuse and can report that there have been no cases of non-compliance since the inception of the scheme in 2023. "We remain committed to the implementation of the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme (ETAs) with the Crown Dependencies now working towards joining the scheme during the 1st quarter of 2026."
ITV News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
MPs raise concerns about Jersey's 'backdoor route into the UK'
MPs in the UK have raised concerns about Jersey 's French ID card scheme, saying it opens a "backdoor route into the UK" for potential illegal immigrants. The ID card scheme grants French visitors access to the island for the day without the need for a passport. It was introduced in both Bailiwicks in 2023, after it was found the number of day trippers had fallen post-Brexit - and last week, Jersey's government voted unanimously to extend the scheme on the basis of its success. However, UK MPs are now flagging it as a risk to their own border security. Chris Philp, the UK's Shadow Home Secretary and Conservative MP for Croydon South, says "our concern is that French ID cards are not particularly secure documents - it is possible to forge them relatively easily. "And because the Channel Islands are part of the Common Travel Area, the checks between the Channel Islands and the UK mainland are nothing like as strict as a regular passport control." Whilst no person has been identified to have exploited the scheme in this way in the past two years, Philp argues "concerns about border control are higher now than they ever have been." Citing rising number of immigrants who've made their way to the UK on small boats from Calais, he argues Jersey's scheme leaves a chink in the UK's armour that has the power to "snowball into something much larger" if left unaddressed. "When you have a vulnerability with your border security, what can start off as a very small problem can rapidly grow as illegal immigrants and others exploit vulnerabilities", he says. Philp hasn't raised concerns with members of Jersey's government directly. However, the island's Home Affairs Minister, Deputy Mary le Hegarat, admitted in the Assembly last week that "it is quite clear with correspondence from the Home Office that this is not a project they endorse." She added: "This heightens the risk for us in relation to the Common Travel Area and also potentially us being given a hard border." But Deputy Ian Gorst, Jersey's Minister for External Relations, says suitable checks and balances are in place to ensure the system isn't exploited as a pathway to the mainland. "These arrivals on their ID card have to have a return ticket for the ferry and there have been no incidences of onward travel to other places within the Common Travel Area. "So we can be confident that our border forces are protecting us and yet at the same time bringing this benefit to Jersey's economy." Guernsey is in the process of deciding whether to extend their version of the scheme for another year. A Guernsey Government spokesperson says: "It is the intention in Guernsey to extend the French Identity Card Scheme locally, on the condition it does not place our membership of the Common Travel Area at risk. "Guernsey Border Agency Officers have been in contact with the UK to discuss the matter from a Bailiwick of Guernsey perspective, and will continue to work with UK counterparts around the introduction of ETAs." Want the inside track on the issues that will shape Guernsey's Election this June? Listen to Guernsey Votes, an ITV Channel podcast packed with expert guests, local insight and analysis you can trust...
