To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reintroducing a List of Travellers scheme for school groups.
Answered on
11 October 2022
The List of Travellers scheme is an EU scheme. As part of its ‘communication on readiness at the end of the transition period between the European Union and the United Kingdom’, the European Commission announced in July 2020 they would no longer be accepting the List of Travellers as a visa waiver for TCN pupils based in the UK with effect from 1 January 2021.
In line with phasing out ID cards, third country national pupils legally resident in the EEA or Switzerland have not been able to travel to the UK using the LoT scheme in place of their national passport - and visa if needed - since 1 October 2021.
Citizens of some countries are required to obtain a visa before travelling to the UK. This list is set out in the Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-visitor-visa-national-list. The visa requirement is based on nationality rather than the purpose of travel or age of the applicant.
The UK’s immigration system is global and applies to all regardless of nationality. All those visiting the UK, including on school visits or exchanges, are assessed against the same immigration rules which area available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor.
There are currently no plans to change our approach to under 18s travelling as part of an organised group.