As China goes visa-free, Britain ties itself in knots with complex ETA rules

In his latest newsletter, Simon Calder explains how China’s visa-free travel contrasts with the UK’s new ETA rules, leaving dual nationals to weigh a risky gamble

Five-star national tourist attraction (the temple, not me) (Douglas Bolton)

The article below is an excerpt from Simon Calder’s travel newsletter. To get the latest from Simon delivered straight to your inbox, simply enter your email address in the box above.

Isolation is not always splendid. Five years ago this week, I awoke in the Heathrow Novotel, one of the strip of hotels north of the runways. I had checked in for the final night before this unremarkable property became a quarantine hotel – complete with security guards to ensure none of the guests made a break for it. I checked out on 15 February shortly before the first involuntary inmates from “red list” nations arrived. They paid £1,750 for an all-inclusive package: 10 nights’ accommodation, three meals a day and two Covid tests.

For almost the rest of that miserable pandemic year, travellers arriving from countries regarded as high risk were incarcerated. The system unravelled shortly before Christmas 2021. “I’ve had nine walk out on me so far,” a guard at the Gatwick Sofitel told me in mid-December. “They face a £10,000 fine, but the police aren’t interested.” MPs on the Transport Select Committee later found “no evidence” that hotel quarantine provided the slightest benefit compared with self-isolation at home. What a difference five years makes. Yesterday, Accor, parent company of Novotel, reported that revenue per available room – RevPAR, the key metric in the hotel industry – rose 4.2 per cent to €76 (£66). People seem much happier when they are free to travel where they wish.

Anticipation is a much more positive emotion than hindsight. I look forward to testing out the new visa-free access to China on a trip to Chengdu in the west of the People’s Republic next month – and hope the key local attraction, officially known as Siguniangshan Scenic Spot, is easier to enjoy than it is to pronounce.

The decision by Beijing to open up to British (and Canadian) passport holders will be transformative. Now that the barricade of red tape has been dismantled, organised cultural tours will continue in much the same way – but China will see a surge in backpackers, keen to explore a low-cost country that until this week was too tricky and expensive to consider. No hidden extras, either: on my last trip to the Chinese resort city of Qingdao, the Sea View Garden Hotel instructed guests: “Your satisfaction is the greatest praise to us, please don’t give tips to our staff.” I recall no sign like that along Isolation Row at Heathrow.

As China eases its rules for British visitors, the red tape for travellers to the UK is getting ever more tangled. From 25 February, the electronic travel authorisation will be mandatory for all travellers arriving in the United Kingdom except for British and Irish citizens. For UK dual nationals who only have a passport issued by another country, this presents a problem. They are not allowed to apply for an ETA.

Up to now, the government has insisted that only a valid British passport or a “Certificate of Entitlement” costing £589 will allow a dual citizen to be admitted. The change has caused consternation for many people who happen to have UK citizenship but whose lives – and passports – are located elsewhere. They are scrabbling to acquire the required documentation. But this morning it has emerged that airlines can accept a valid foreign passport plus a UK passport that was issued anything up to 37 years ago in lieu of a current British passport.

I advise all travellers to observe all border regulations at all times. But I suspect that some of the 1.2 million UK dual nationals estimated to be resident abroad will still travel on ETAs, even though they are not supposed to apply for them. They will bet that airlines and ferry firms – the organisations with the hapless task of enforcing the new rules – will be content with proof that the passenger possesses a valid passport and apparently legitimate ETA. In a time-pressured pre-departure environment, if the computer says “yes” when presented with the traveller's foreign passport, the transport operators will not diligently go on to investigate whether that person has British citizenship by birth or descent.

I cannot envisage any passenger being told: “You can't enter the UK because you are British.” A few transgressors may be identified on arrival when a UK Border Force officer chooses to examine their passport. But most people who decide to infringe the rules will probably get away with it by whizzing through the eGates.

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