UK imposes ETAs on EU citizens too, now. - Europe Pub
europe.pub
This is a correction to my recent post [https://europe.pub/post/9839651]. The UK has already decided to do a money grab on Europeans, not just Americans. They are already becoming hardasses about this month. £16 only lasts 2 years. Not sure if there is an exception for family. The EU’s version of this shitshow allows “family” to bypass the travel auths. But what does that mean? Who is “family”? The step-brother of the husband of my maternal great aunt? My immediate family members do not even have the same last name, so I wonder what kind of proof is needed. Whatever it is, it will likely cost more in verification than some stranger applying for a travel auth.

So, I take it the UK does not want our tourism.

  • BCsven@lemmy.ca
    1·
    1 month ago

    Meh USA has had this for decades, as a UK citizen I’ve had to pay $6-20 (inflation) to have them stamp my passport upon entry with a Visa Waiver stamp. (Lasts 90 days)

    I don’t see the issue that people want to make of this.

    • ciferecaNinjo@fedia.ioOP
      1·
      1 month ago

      The US demands social media accounts to snoop through as part of the travel authorsation procedure. Someone coming from a developing country got the opportunity of a lifetime: entry into an Ivy league university like Harvard. When he landed in the US, ICE could not find any dirt on him. So they snooped through the social media comments of his /friends/. One of his friends said something critical of the US. So the guy was denied entry. Harvard was blocked.

      If you claim to have no social media accounts, they don’t believe you. And they don’t have to. Border control has discretion to bounce any non-citizen they want.

      I’m not sure what snooping the UK does but the cost alone is a deterrant for me.

      The travel auth is required just for passing through a country. So a Moroccan whose route stops in Madrid, then London, then New York, before landing in Canada, will have to pay: €20+£16+$21, despite not staying in any of those places. There are 3 opportunities in that case for a country to find something disloyal they in the traveler’s social media acct. If blocked, is there a refund? No. It’s a gamble of both time and money. For security theatre.