New Passport Rules Means These Nationalities Can Enter The UK Easier From 2019

If you’ve been to London you’ll probably know what a pain in the arse Heathrow Airport can be. “But we’re part of the Commonwealth!” Australians, Kiwis and Canadians mutter under their breath as they join the “all other countries’ passports” lane at immigration.

And it’s true – Heathrow is been renowned for its long immigration processing time and the UK’s refusal to make use of available passport technology to make entry easier for those travellers who have it.

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But that’s about to change, with new UK budget measures passed allowing for travellers with ePassport-enabled documents from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Japan to be fast-tracked through immigration. The measure should be active by the UK summer, just in time for the peak Euro travel season for Australians. The news comes from Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK, George Brandis.

Our 🇦🇺 High Commissioner George Brandis warmly welcomes the #Budget2018 announcement by @hmtreasury @PhilipHammondUK that Aussie passport holders will soon be able to use UK ePassport gates – we’ve been working towards this for some time so it is great to see it announced. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/o6Ivj5dfct

— Aus. High Commission (@AusHouseLondon) October 29, 2018

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The announcement was somewhat of a surprise in a speech given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (aka, head of UK treasury) Phillip Hammond, though the Aussie High Commission to the UK had apparently been working on it for a while. It’s theorised that the UK may be trying to buddy up to these countries outside of Europe to ease their leaving the European Union through Brexit.

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