travelling to the UK with Article 18 withdrawal agreement

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I'm assuming that you are now resident in the Netherlands and are wondering whether your wife's current Dutch permit will gain her entry into the UK for a short visit post Brexit.

The entitlement to do this previously was linked to the person holding a valid passport and an Article 10 residence permit and it was to one of the Schengen countries (i.e. she could travel from the Netherlands to Germany on a Schengen visa), which effectively meant no visa as their were no physical controls.  The UK was never a signatory to Schengen while in the EU, so it was never an option to your wife prior to Brexit, she would have always needed a visa, so I doubt they will do it after they have left, but I think she'll be able to cross over into the Germany and Belgium as both are Schengen signatories.

To answer your specific question is difficult this early on in the process.  Based on what you've told us, all I can do is give you the link to the UK Gov website where you can begin the process of applying for a visa for your wife to visit the UK; this link will take you straight there.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hello Cynic,

Thank you for your quick reply,

From my understanding anyone who has an Article 10 residence permit can travel and enter the UK according to the UK immigration:- https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati … dence-card 

But what I don't understand is if the Article 18 withdrawal agreement residence permit is equivalent to the Article 10 residence permit.

And I was not planning to travel post Brixit infact I wanted to travel to the UK for the Christmas holidays to spend time with family back in the UK.

Issues regarding this Article 18 withdrawal agreement are not very clear, hence why I am here asking the questions.

Thank you for your time

Hi again.

Thanks for the link; I think we're talking about 2 different things.  The link you refer to is generally for the reunification of a family on a permanent move, not a short-term holiday visit; I've never heard of it being used for holiday trips and the link I gave you seems to give you a way to apply for a visa for such trips.  We have had a lot of issues with people in other EU lands but basically the same issue you are asking about and wanting to travel on to Non-Schengen countries like the UK and Ireland and being denied entry.  Have you ever visited the UK with your wife using her residence card?  It would be useful to know as we don't get many tourist type questions and knowing that an EU residence card is of use in your situation will be useful for others to know.

A couple of other points; as an ex-Regulator myself, I do have to advise you that you really shouldn't be travelling anywhere from the Netherlands; the latest Dutch Government advice is essential travel only.  Dutch law does not allow them to forbid you from doing so, but should you do it, the UK is in Group Orange for travel restrictions, assuming you speak Dutch, that means "Reis alleen als dat moet. Er zijn gezondheids- en veiligheidsrisico's, een inreisverbod en/of quarantaineverplichting."; what that means is you'll spend 10 days in UK Quarantine on arrival and then a further 10 days in NL quarantine once you get back in the Netherlands.  As my daughter has just found out (she's in day 8 of her Quarantine having travelled from Holland), the UK is pretty boring when everything is closed.

Hi Thetriplex247,

Kindly note that your topic has been moved to the England forum.

Thanks,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team