Day trip ID card scheme extended to next Autumn

Monday 12 August 2024

French day-trippers visiting the Bailiwick will be able to travel using only their national identity cards until at least next September as a scheme aimed at welcoming tourists to the islands has been extended again.

Initially brought in temporarily last year, the ID card policy will now run until the end of the 2025 summer visitor season, by which time an Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme should be introduced.

Deputy Rob Prow, President of the Committee for Home Affairs, said this decision keeps the Bailiwick of Guernsey inline with Jersey, following joint discussions with the UK government.

“This scheme was initially introduced just for the summer of 2023, but the benefits to local businesses in allowing French travellers into the Bailiwick for day trips were clear, and so we are pleased to have been able to continue it since," he said.

"France is a country where the number of people who hold a passport is relatively low, and so ensuring they can still travel following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has been very valuable. It is unlikely the scheme will continue when ETAs are introduced, however that scheme will increase the security of the Common Travel Area, and therefore the Bailiwick.”

The scheme was originally due to end this September and Home Affairs has already stated that it is unlikely to be extend beyond September 2025, as the UK and the Crown Dependencies, will introduce a 'complete Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme' which is currently planned for the end of next year.

That scheme will require non-visa nationals travelling to the Common Travel Area to provide passport details and French identity cards will not be compatible with this process.

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