England and Scotland after Brexit

We going to England in September 2020. My feeling is that the people in the UK have plenty of experience sorting out difficult situations. In any event, they may be more glad to have tourism dollars since the economy may be affected by Brexit.

Does your friend think that they’re going to totally close their borders and not let anyone in or out? Highly unlikely.

Yes, what Emma said. It’s not like flights in and out of the U.K. are going to stop, and passport requirements for U.S. citizens to enter the U.K. won’t change (even if you are an EU citizen, Visit Scotland’s site says entry requirements won’t change for visits less than 3 months). Tourism is a huge industry in the U.K. (and the EU), there’s a lot of motivation to not disrupt that. Also, the current exchange rate with the Pound means your money will go a lot further right now!

I’m planning a trip for the spring, and I’m doing the same things I do for any international trip- I have travel insurance, I’ll check my airline’s website for any updates I need to be aware of (like if additional time is recommended at airports) and the U.S. State Department’s country specific information. Other than that, just keep on traveling!

Brexit makes absolutely no difference to tourist travel, neither to what transport is available nor to crossing borders for non-Europeans.
I may be a PIA for UK citizens travelling to Europe, as we will (probably) have the same "90 days in any 180" limit as non-Europeans and have our passports stamped.
And it will (probably) have a huge economic shock as goods are stopped at borders, possibly being inspected, possibly paying tariffs, possibly being refused entry, probably being delayed (adding to costs) and possibly a lot of other things. And people who travel for work (me) needing to get work permits.

But nobody actually knows what Brexit will mean, even after 3 years it is still "TBA".

Travel from North America to the UK (and back) should not be affected at all (possibly longer passport control lines, which are pretty long to start with so won't make that much difference). If you are planning to travel from the UK to an EU country that might be more affected (again probably only longer lines). I would hesitate to book travel from UK to EU in case the 'Brexit' occurs right when you are traveling. For the first few days after the 'Brexit' occurs - if and when it ever does - there could be a mess. And the problem is you don't when it will occur since they keep moving the date. But if you are just going to the UK then I wouldn't worry at all. I'm going in March.

I had a trip scheduled last spring to London for the original Brexit deadline. People were making the same noise and worries then. I went, had a great time, and Brexit never happened. Even if it had, I was confident that the impact on me would be minimal.

They will have had even more time to figure this out. Go and enjoy yourself.

Hello Everybody,
Thank you so much for all your responses. This have been very helpful. We feel much better now.
This Forum is great.
Greatly appreciated.

Tashi

Short answer: Nobody knows. And people who claim to know are either lying or don't know what they're talking about. But we can make some educated guesses. And if you ask again after the upcoming general election the guesses might be even more educated.

Currently the UK is set to leave the EU in january, but a Labour or Labour/Libdem government will probably ask for a new extension. And who knows for how long or if the EU will grant it (although my guess is that they probably will if a new government has a reasonable plan). A Tory or Tory/Brexit government might get parliament to approve the withdraval agreement or go for a no deal Brexit. If they approve the WA, UK will probably be in the transition period in April to May. But again, who knows. The Brexit saga has so far had more plot twists than any book I've read, and I presume there are more to come.

There are temporary air service agreements between EU and UK and USA and UK to ensure air service even in case of no deal and Eurostar claims to have made sure they can continue operate even in case of a no deal. I guess the ferry companies has done the same.

A government document on the impact of a No deal was published a while ago and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831199/20190802_Latest_Yellowhammer_Planning_assumptions_CDL.pdf The document says worst case scenario, but on a leaked version it was claimed to be a most likely scenario.

If they leave in january the most problematic consequenses should (not will) have been sorted out by April. There will probably be protests, but I guess they will be centered around Whitehall and I'd be very surprised if they turn violent in Great Britain.

Yesterday's election resulted in a quite large Tory majority. So it looks very likely that the UK will leave the EU in january. But my guess is that they will approve the WA meaning they will still be in the transition period in April and May, in that case there should be no big reason to worry as a tourist.

No worries.
We have a trip in July to England then a flight down to Kenya for a safari.
I am more worried about strikes in France, since our flights from London to Nairobi on Air France go through CDG Airport.

We love Great Britain and all the countries, England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland. I very much hope that Scotland doesn't try to break away from the United Kingdom.

All the sudden a friend asked us. Aren't you nervous of what can
happen about the Brexit in January and you may can't go?

Hmmm, why would you not be able to go? When you asked your friend that question, what was her response?

I spend three to four months a year in the UK. (I am in the UK right now.) I'm also planning my return visit in the spring. Both England and Scotland. I am not worried. While no one knows what will be going on, it won't benefit anyone to hinder travel for visitors. Why would they want to lose that money?

And, I'll be traveling between the UK and the Schengen area. I'm not worried with that either.

Now, as for the future of Scotland.....it''s getting interesting with the success of the SNP in the election. Nicola says time for independence. Boris says no.

Nicola says time for independence. Boris says no.

The majority of Scottish voters voted no to independence last time round and nothing much has changed to alter that position. The success of SNP during this last election was likely due to a poor Labour offering and the Lib Dem's policy on cancelling Brexit.

If Scotland does choose to leave the UK and remain in the EU then they would have to apply for membership in the same manner as every other country, this is something that takes years and it would not be the simple transition that the SNP would have everyone believe.

No one knows what Brexit will mean on the ground 1 February onwards. It looks as though Boris will have the backing for Brexit at the end of January. There have been talks of food and medicine shortages and long queues at the port of Dover, but no one knows exactly what will happen.

At present, the pound has surged against most currencies, so if that continues, your holiday will cost more, albeit it’s still weaker than before the Brexit vote.

As has already been stated, even if Scotland were to leave the Union, it will take years to join the EU if they meet the economic criteria. It looks like that will be my only hope for getting an EU passport so that I won’t have to be tied to a 90 day in 180 Schengen zone limit!

Interesting times. So - If England leaves the EU in January - can I spend a month there without being affected by the 90-day rule?
I plan on 3 months in Florence and I need to know if I can linger in England & Ireland for a month - or not,
Thank you.

Calvin

@clpipeline
The "90 days in any 180" limit applies to the Schengen Area. The UK is not and never has been part of the Schengen Area. Time in the UK does not and never has counted as part of your 90 days.
No change.
Not being in the Schengen Area is why you have to go through passport control when travelling between the UK and mainland Europe.

And it is not "England" that is leaving the EU, it is the whole of the UK (unless the SNP manages to get independence before 31st Jan)

you just asked a similar question in your thread, clpipeline. Answers are there like these here.

There have been talks of food and medicine shortages and long queues
at the port of Dover, but no one knows exactly what will happen.

In case of a no deal brexit. But if the House of Commons approve the withdraval agreement, 2020 will be a transition period and we will not see what a Brexit looks like until 2021-01-31 (unless the transition period gets extended).