Common Travel Area

(asked on 16th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a Common Travel Area between the Republic of Ireland and the UK; whether there is freedom of movement between the Republic of Ireland and the EU; whether there are border checks on EU citizens travelling from the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain; and whether there are border checks on the movement of EU citizens, not from the Republic of Ireland, travelling through Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 30th July 2021

The Common Travel Area (CTA) facilitates the free movement of people between the between the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey).

As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls on journeys from Ireland to the UK, including from Ireland to Great Britain. There are no immigration checks whatsoever on the Northern Ireland-Ireland land border. However, individuals arriving in the UK, regardless of where they enter from, must do so in line with the UK’s immigration framework and we work closely with the Irish Government to prevent abuse of the CTA.

There are no border controls for travel within the UK including from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Whether there is freedom of movement between Ireland and the EU is a matter for the Irish government.

Reticulating Splines