Whilst there have been calls for Gavin Williamson to resign, and the new variant playing havoc in London, I have   been pondering on the consequences of “Let’s get Brexit done”. This was a result of waiting patiently for a copy of my passport which needed to be used to submit a music exam. When checking through the passport holder for the expiry date on my passport, I checked the government website which confirmed it needed at least 6 months to run for it to be valid when travelling in the EU. I also discovered some euros placed from my last trip in my secret passport wallet pocket, which I'm looking forward to spending on my next trip (hopefully on some watermelon slushies in Greece)!

 

Anita Kumrai, parent and solicitor's views are: 'all parents should consider reviewing their passport documents as soon as possible to ensure their passports have six months yet to run especially if they are hoping to have a summer holiday in Europe during 2021 now that the exams are cancelled for some.'

 

When visiting the EU, you can still use the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which entitles you to the same treatment in hospitals, and you can use this until the card expires; however from January 2021, you are no longer able to use your EHIC in Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, or Liechtenstein. If you're a UK national living in the UK, when your EHIC expires or you're applying for the first time, you'll now need to get a free Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) instead (but this still only applies to Europe).

 

If you are open to study in Europe, this may not be possible – as a tourist, you will be able to stay for up to 90 days in any 180 day–period; after that, you may need a visa or permit to stay for longer to work or study, so any students hoping to improve their language skills will need to research this in more detail. This could also impact students from Europe coming to the UK as well.

 

And for all those animal lovers, you may need to allow at least one month to arrange pet travel for this as you cannot use the existing pet passport scheme – I know my neighbour's cat often travels abroad to France. If they are unaware of this, it may be that they leave their cat behind, enabling me to cat sit, which would be a huge advantage as he's adorable.

 

By Ambar Madhok

 

https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021