The Common Travel Area is a travel zone that comprises the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. In general, the Area's internal borders are subject to minimal or non-existent border controls and can normally be crossed by British and Irish citizens with only minimal identity documents, however, the use of a passport is required by the airline Ryanair. The maintenance of the Area involves considerable co-operation on immigration matters between the British and the Irish authorities.
However, the Irish government has imposed immigration controls on people entering the state from the United Kingdom since 1997. These controls have been compulsory for air travellers, selective on sea crossings and occasional for land crossings. In 2008, the British government announced that it planned to impose similar controls on travellers entering the United Kingdom, which would, if implemented, effectively bring an end to the passport-free zone.
Read more about Common Travel Area: Immigration Regulations, Schengen Area
Famous quotes containing the words common, travel and/or area:
“Nobody can deny but religion is a comfort to the distressed, a cordial to the sick, and sometimes a restraint on the wicked; therefore whoever would argue or laugh it out of the world without giving some equivalent for it ought to be treated as a common enemy.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)
“Ktaadn ... is an Indian word signifying highest land,... very few, even among backwoodsmen and hunters, have ever climbed it, and it will be a long time before the tide of fashionable travel sets that way.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)