The visa-free access that Antigua and Barbuda nationals have enjoyed into the
United Kingdom remains in place, although that country now requires that all
visitors must first complete an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before entry
into the UK.
That is the word from Prime Minister Gaston Browne when he answered a
question posed during ‘Questions to the Prime Minister,’ whilst in a sitting of the
House of Representatives on Thursday.
“What the UK has done is to require that all passengers irrespective of where they
are coming from complete an Electronic Travel Authorisation application before
entry into the UK. This is not a visa, but all non-UK citizens are now required to
complete it, even citizens of the United States and Antigua and Barbuda are not
exempted,” he noted.
He said the new arrangement is ‘not quite a visa,’ but a pre-screening for all
visitors into the UK where requests for visas are made online. He added that almost
invariably the ETA applications are approved, ‘unless there is something untoward
about a particular applicant.’
In response to a follow-up question, the prime minister said he does not think that
the new requirement will affect applications for Antigua and Barbuda citizenship,
under the CIP Programme. “We do not anticipate any reduction in CIP applications
as it is not a visa requirement and CIP passport holders have visa-free entry into
the UK as any other visitor,” he explained.
Since the UK announced that it was withdrawing visa-free requirements for
Dominica, there has been much concern about if or when the UK will extend the
policy to other CIP countries in the OECS.
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