Wittering Travel Counsellor Emma Savage says being well informed can reduce stress around travelling abroad

There’s never a dull moment in the world of travel; and while many of us find it exciting to be thinking about a trip away, others can find the whole thing very stressful and anxiety inducing, writes Travel Counsellor Emma Savage.

One of the best ways to prepare for any trip is to be well informed; and an important part of getting ready to travel abroad is to understand what documents you need in order to meet entry requirements for each country.

I inform my customers well in advance of what they need to do – one of my customers is going on a three month trip to many countries and that was a long list! Changes to entry requirements or updates to the process can happen at any time and I advise keeping an eye on the Foreign Office Advice for the destination you are heading to; you can sign up for alerts so if anything changes, they’ll let you know straight away.

If the destination you are travelling to has any required visas or entry forms I recommend applying in good time, so that any last minute stress can be avoided. Should there be an issue with the application, it gives you time to contact the embassy or redo the form. There are some changes to entry requirements which won’t require you to do anything in advance, but it is worth being aware of them. For example, a change which recently came into effect is the EU Entry Exit System (EES). Whilst passengers don’t need to do anything prior to travelling, it may cause some delays initially as the process is rolled out. It has been on the cards for years and involves third party countries (such as the United Kingdom, since we left the EU) having to provide additional personal data at entry and exit points – such as fingerprints and facial scans.

Data will be collected at seaports, airports, and rail/road crossings at Schengen borders. Part of the reasoning behind it is to reduce crime and enable the EU to enforce its 90 day stay limit. However, getting all member states ready by the deadline has proven to be somewhat of a challenge. In fact, when the EES came into force on October 12, not all countries were ready, and many said they might only check one flight or two and gradually build up to full scale operations. When I was in Greece in the summer, I saw the electronic pods lined up ready for use– maybe you have seen them on your travels around Europe.

So, with regards to the new EES, in the short term prepare for delays at border crossings as your data is collected. The EES is an additional procedure on top of having passports checked and stamped by border officials. Hopefully, once everything settles down, the process will be a lot smoother and quicker and, ultimately, it will become a normal part of travelling within the EU.

Happy travels!