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:
“I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we “mingle with the herd of common men.””
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Whatever an artist’s personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists.”
—Willem De Kooning (b. 1904)