The new proposals will see all EU and Commonwealth visitors having to apply for visas under a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system. The ETA system will be modelled on the US’s ESTA visa waiver programme which allows for frequent return visits within a certain time frame. The Tories claim that this will make it easier for border guards to screen arrivals and block threats from entering the UK.

Other measures include plans to count visitors into and out of the UK and to stop migrants using EU identity cards instead of the more secure passports.

New legislation will also be introduced to give border guards more powers to stop EU criminals at the border.

Under current EU laws, the Home Office is severely limited in its ability to prevent serious criminals from travelling to the UK.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote: “Under EU law, previous criminal convictions do not in themselves count as a reason to deny entry to, or deport someone.

“My powers as Home Secretary to deny entry to EU citizens who have committed serious crimes are severely limited in scope.”

She added: “Like me, the British public have had enough of our inability to control who and what comes into our country.

“We are going to end this farce and introduce automated and accurate entrance and exit checks with all visitors required to have biometric passports.

“We will know how many people are in the country and who is overstaying their visa. We will be able to count in and count out.”

More to follow…

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