Foreign Office changes travel guidance for France and Croatia

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Croatia and France

Official guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been updated for anyone planning to travel to France or Croatia. The latter has become more and more popular with tourists in recent years, with many taking holidays in places like Split and Dubrovnik.

Millions of tourists now visit Croatia each year and, because of Brexit, all travellers with a UK passport must adhere to the Schengen area passport rules in order to travel in the country. Your passport’s expiry date must be at least three months after the day you intend to depart and its date of issue must be less than ten years before the date of arrival in order for you to enter Croatia, as well as all other Schengen countries, such as France.

As well as this, a new alert on Thursday advises UK travellers who plan to visit France or Croatia, as well as a number of other EU nations. The Gov.uk update reads: “From November 2024, the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) will start for all non-EU nationals, including British nationals, travelling in or out of the Schengen area.

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“The Schengen area is made up of 29 European countries, 25 of which are EU Member States. The EES is a digital border system which registers non-EU visitors travelling into the Schengen area instead of stamping their passports.

“You will need to have your fingerprints and your photo taken when entering the Schengen area. If you enter the Schengen area through Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or St Pancras International, your fingerprints and photo will be taken before you leave the UK. You will also need to provide either your fingerprint or photo on exit.

“You may experience longer queues at borders when the new system starts.”