Brexit advice

Changes to passport rules and healthcare arrangements mean that you should:

1) Check your passport’s issue and expiry dates – it should have at least 6 months’ remaining validity and also be less than 10 years old at the time of travel.

2) Apply for a free Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC – a replacement for the European Health Insurance Card, or EHIC) if you are travelling to a European country other than Switzerland or Norway and do not have an EHIC. If you already have an EHIC, you can continue to use this until it expires (except in Switzerland and Norway). Your EHIC/GHIC may entitle you free or reduced-cost state-provided medical treatment while abroad. You can apply at www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-ehic-european-health-insurance-card/. If you are holidaying in Norway and require medical care, you can present your UK passport at the medical facility and treatment will be provided on the same terms as for Norwegian nationals.

3) Take out adequate travel insurance – the EHIC/GHIC does not cover all health-related costs and should not be relied upon as a substitute for comprehensive travel insurance, so it is essential that you take out either our recommended policy or an equivalent one (all the more so if you are travelling to a destination with no reciprocal health agreement with the UK). You should ensure that it covers any existing medical conditions. Since the GHIC and still-current EHICs are not valid in Norway and Switzerland, it is important that, if you already have travel insurance, you check that the terms do not exclude medical cover – especially for existing conditions – in the absence of an EHIC.

If you are driving to, or as part of, your holiday, you also need to check:

1) Rules relating to UK driving licences – most people with a card-style UK driving licence do not have to do anything. However, if you have a UK paper licence or if your licence was issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or Isle of Man, depending on which countries you are visiting (including any you are transiting through), you may need to apply for at least one type, but possibly both types, of International Driving Permit (see www.gov.uk/driving-abroad/international-driving-permit).

2) Arrangements for taking your car abroad – you will need to:
• check that your car insurance covers you to drive in Europe
• inform your insurer of the dates of your holiday
• ask your insurer to supply you with an insurance green card (there may be a charge for this and you should allow 6 weeks for your request to be processed)
• display a GB sticker on the rear of your car if it is UK-registered and it does not have a GB indicator on the number plate (if you are driving your car in Spain, Cyprus or Malta you will need a sticker regardless of what is on the number plate)
• take your vehicle registration documents (V5) with you
You may also wish to take out European breakdown cover.

You should also be aware of the following:

• It may take longer than before to go through border controls, and you may be asked to show your return (or onward) ticket and that you have sufficient money for your stay

• Mobile roaming charges may be re-introduced in the future

• If travelling with an infant, the amount of powdered infant milk/infant food you can take is limited to 2kg

The British Government's website, www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021 and www.gov.uk/transition, is kept up to date and you can also subscribe to receive updates. For country-specific information about entry and other requirements, visit www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.