4 ms·

Posting from the Rebublic of Ireland now, as a tourist from the Schengen zone. UK requests a passport, but the Rebublic does not. So we flew in with ID cards on

Posting from the Rebublic of Ireland now, as a tourist from the Schengen zone. UK requests a passport, but the Rebublic does not. So we flew in with ID cards only then drove into UK not having passports and this is explicitly allowed. Border crossing doesn't feel like border crossing at all. A small sign and a change of road sign is all. Suddenly the speed is signaled differently (mph vs. km/h). Even the driving culture is the same: speedy but careful and respectful. In other words, this agreement seemed to have survived Brexit.

anotherhue 4y ago
Ireland isn't part of Schengen however, primarily because Britain wasn't and Ireland wanted to align with them for the sake of the border. > Today, the Schengen Area encompasses most EU countries, except for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area_en https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-...
- _nalply 4y ago
  Of course, we passed border control at the airports. They accepted our ID cards.
  - netsharc 4y ago
    That's because inside the EU, travel to another EU country with just your EU ID is allowed. The fact that crossing from Republic of Ireland (part of EU) into the Northern Ireland (part of UK, no longer part of the EU) with just the ID is allowed is another curious paradox in this trying-to-fit-a-square-peg-into-a-round-hole of Brexit...
    - hanoz 4y ago
      The fact that you don't need ID to move between Northern Ireland and the rest of it, has precisely nothing to do with Brexit.
      - netsharc 4y ago
        You're all over this comments thread trying to say black is white (let me guess, you're pro UK and pro Brexit?), but I refer you to my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35562072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35562072 I rephrase, technically I haven't needed to carry my driving license for the last several years of my driving career, but legally, I may be asked to present it at any time. I'd take the advice of the website cited above rather than believe you. I.e. you could be asked to prove that you're a UK/Irish citizen (easiest with ID or passport), and if you're a EU citizen entering the UK (the website even mentions crossing the Irish sea to enter Great Britain), you have to have a passport (although you might not be asked for it). Before Brexit, the UK was part of the EU, and other EUians was allowed to enter it with just their ID card. So...
      - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
        Only for a short period. The UK government are introducing an ESTA like system for non-Irish visitors from the EU, so legally if you're not an Irish citizen you should apply for this to cross the border. I mean, I don't expect this to be enforced for most travellers but I suspect if you want to stay in NI then you'll probably need to show a visa (based on current UK law).
odiroot 4y ago
You could potentially enter Britain without a passport this way, taking a ferry.
- threetonesun 4y ago
  Yep, did a trip that was Dublin to Belfast, ferry to Scotland, train from Edinburgh to London, only checked the passport once.
  - TomWhitwell 4y ago
    I went from London to Paris last week, only checked the passport once.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      From my understanding, UK Border Force doesn’t do exit controls on that route by the Chunnel, but France (or security?) reports exits back to UK. The reverse has juxtaposed controls where you deal with both French exit controls and UK entry controls at the departure railway station. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls
      - laurencerowe 4y ago
        Pretty sure the UK has never done exit controls. I remember being surprised at being asked for my passport at the border post the first time I flew out of Schengen since officials don’t check your passport flying out of the UK.
      - NoboruWataya 4y ago
        I have travelled to the continent several times on the Eurostar and each time I got my passport checked twice in St Pancras Station in London, within a few metres of each other. Once by UK authorities and then by French authorities.
        4y ago
secondcoming 4y ago
The Common Travel Area pre-exists the Good Friday Agreement by a few decades. The only changes Brexit brought about are Duty-Free shopping again, and I have recently - for the first time in 20 years commuting between RoI and UK - had my bag checked by Airport Customs in Ireland. There was a very small risk that the CTA would be at risk due to Brexit so I know of some Irish people who obtained UK passports in case it did happen.
kwyjibo1230 4y ago
I visited both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland the other week, and it was exactly like this. I was worried at first about delays from going through customs, etc. on the trip between the two. But, I took a train from Dublin to Belfast, and it felt like nothing changed apart from the currency and signage. It was great to see such an open connection between the two countries!
- disgruntledphd2 4y ago
  Yeah, this was the major goal of the Irish government post Brexit, and they accomplished it. Unfortunately it's causing issues in NI, but it looks like they may get resolved in the next few months.
firstlink 4y ago
> Suddenly the speed is signaled differently (mph vs. km/h). The scariest part in practice of crossing from the US to Canada, or vice-versa I presume.
- zeagle 4y ago
  How so? Just the psychological difference in seeing higher numbers? I find the highways in the USA are much better quality. My biggest fear is running across some podunk town's overzealous law enforcement when everyone is doing 10+ miles over the limit in the USA and having Canadian plates. Or crazy road violence incident where they have a gun but I realize that isn't a rationale fear.

anotherhue 4y ago

Ireland isn't part of Schengen however, primarily because Britain wasn't and Ireland wanted to align with them for the sake of the border. > Today, the Schengen Area encompasses most EU countries, except for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area_en https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-...

_nalply 4y ago
Of course, we passed border control at the airports. They accepted our ID cards.
- netsharc 4y ago
  That's because inside the EU, travel to another EU country with just your EU ID is allowed. The fact that crossing from Republic of Ireland (part of EU) into the Northern Ireland (part of UK, no longer part of the EU) with just the ID is allowed is another curious paradox in this trying-to-fit-a-square-peg-into-a-round-hole of Brexit...
  - hanoz 4y ago
    The fact that you don't need ID to move between Northern Ireland and the rest of it, has precisely nothing to do with Brexit.
    - netsharc 4y ago
      You're all over this comments thread trying to say black is white (let me guess, you're pro UK and pro Brexit?), but I refer you to my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35562072 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35562072 I rephrase, technically I haven't needed to carry my driving license for the last several years of my driving career, but legally, I may be asked to present it at any time. I'd take the advice of the website cited above rather than believe you. I.e. you could be asked to prove that you're a UK/Irish citizen (easiest with ID or passport), and if you're a EU citizen entering the UK (the website even mentions crossing the Irish sea to enter Great Britain), you have to have a passport (although you might not be asked for it). Before Brexit, the UK was part of the EU, and other EUians was allowed to enter it with just their ID card. So...
    - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
      Only for a short period. The UK government are introducing an ESTA like system for non-Irish visitors from the EU, so legally if you're not an Irish citizen you should apply for this to cross the border. I mean, I don't expect this to be enforced for most travellers but I suspect if you want to stay in NI then you'll probably need to show a visa (based on current UK law).

odiroot 4y ago

You could potentially enter Britain without a passport this way, taking a ferry.

threetonesun 4y ago
Yep, did a trip that was Dublin to Belfast, ferry to Scotland, train from Edinburgh to London, only checked the passport once.
- TomWhitwell 4y ago
  I went from London to Paris last week, only checked the passport once.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    From my understanding, UK Border Force doesn’t do exit controls on that route by the Chunnel, but France (or security?) reports exits back to UK. The reverse has juxtaposed controls where you deal with both French exit controls and UK entry controls at the departure railway station. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls
    - laurencerowe 4y ago
      Pretty sure the UK has never done exit controls. I remember being surprised at being asked for my passport at the border post the first time I flew out of Schengen since officials don’t check your passport flying out of the UK.
    - NoboruWataya 4y ago
      I have travelled to the continent several times on the Eurostar and each time I got my passport checked twice in St Pancras Station in London, within a few metres of each other. Once by UK authorities and then by French authorities.
      - 4y ago

secondcoming 4y ago

The Common Travel Area pre-exists the Good Friday Agreement by a few decades. The only changes Brexit brought about are Duty-Free shopping again, and I have recently - for the first time in 20 years commuting between RoI and UK - had my bag checked by Airport Customs in Ireland. There was a very small risk that the CTA would be at risk due to Brexit so I know of some Irish people who obtained UK passports in case it did happen.

kwyjibo1230 4y ago

I visited both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland the other week, and it was exactly like this. I was worried at first about delays from going through customs, etc. on the trip between the two. But, I took a train from Dublin to Belfast, and it felt like nothing changed apart from the currency and signage. It was great to see such an open connection between the two countries!

disgruntledphd2 4y ago
Yeah, this was the major goal of the Irish government post Brexit, and they accomplished it. Unfortunately it's causing issues in NI, but it looks like they may get resolved in the next few months.

firstlink 4y ago

> Suddenly the speed is signaled differently (mph vs. km/h). The scariest part in practice of crossing from the US to Canada, or vice-versa I presume.

zeagle 4y ago
How so? Just the psychological difference in seeing higher numbers? I find the highways in the USA are much better quality. My biggest fear is running across some podunk town's overzealous law enforcement when everyone is doing 10+ miles over the limit in the USA and having Canadian plates. Or crazy road violence incident where they have a gun but I realize that isn't a rationale fear.