British business travellers are being refused entry to EU countries

British business travellers are being refused entry to EU countries for going against post-Brexit movement restrictions that will be applied more rigorously to everyone once the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) is introduced in November next year.

A warning has been made by legal and regulatory professionals at the summit for entertainment sector travel buyers, which was staged by the BTN Group in London last month, who also brought highlighted the liability for employers of non-compliance with the post-Brexit travel rules, which were agreed upon by authorities of EU countries with those in the UK.

According to a report provided by BTN, speakers also said that for some roles involving EU travel, companies in the UK should switch to employing workers with EU rather than British passports.

Previously, it was clarified in the EU-UK Trade Cooperation Agreement introduced on December 31st, that when the UK’s transition period ended, UK passport holders may only be eligible to travel to the EU visa-free for 90 days in any 180-day period, while stressing that visits for other work purposes require permits.

“There has already been a big impact. There is now a requirement for UK nationals to obtain a work permit if they are going to be doing productive work; which is essentially anything beyond attending a meeting, in EU countries”, said the EMEA advisory services manager for immigration and visa consultancy Newland Chase, Ben Sookia.

In addition, he added that some EU Member States offer work permit exemptions to Britons visiting their countries for a period of less than 90 days and that all those who are getting the complex travel rules wrong are already reaping severe consequences.

“Each country has its own immigration rules. Denmark is a good example. If we send a model to Denmark and they declare at the border they are there for a modelling job, Denmark will immediately send them back to the UK. They will detain them until the next flight. We’ve had one issue with a two-year ban on going back to Denmark, which includes going to any country in the entire Schengen area,” he pointed out, as reported by BTN Europe.

Since the UK officially left the European Union, travellers from both countries are now subject to different rules when planning to travel to each other’s territories.