Three Portuguese airports popular with tourists from the UK now have electronic passport gates British travellers can use to clear the border quicker.
Before Brexit, UK passport holders could use e-gates in airports across the European Union. But their rights have changed since the UK formally left the EU at the end of 2020.
With coronavirus restrictions relaxing across Europe, many tourists from the UK will be jetting off in the coming months. Portugal is an especially popular choice, with plenty of low-cost flights from the likes of Jet2, TUI, EasyJet and Ryanair, from airports around the country, including regional airports like Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Birmingham and East Midlands.
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While UK passport holders can no longer use the EU e-gates, three Portuguese airports have installed new sets of e-gates that UK passport holders can now use. The gates have been in operation since April 2022.
"The new system ensures faster and more effective border control on arrivals from the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, New Zealand as well as Singapore," reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.
Airports in Portugal UK tourists can use passport e-gates
Passport E-gates allow travellers to scan their documents to enter a country. The other option is to walk up to manned border control and have your passport checked by an official. e-gates are usually quicker than the old-fashioned method.
e-gates for UK passport holders are now in operation in Lisbon Airport, in Portugal's capital; Faro airport, in the Algarve; and Funchal Airport in Madeira.
The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says: "On arrival or departure, check you are eligible to use the e-gates and that you are in the right queue. When using an E-gate, your entry/exit is recorded on the computer system. A border officer may also stamp your passport after you have passed through the e-gate; this is for airport operational reasons."
If you use an e-gate, you do not need your passport to be stamped, as the e-gate will record that you have entered the EU. If you don't use an e-gate, getting your passport stamped is important, so border officials can not accuse you of overstaying. After Brexit, UK passport holders are allowed in the EU for three months without a visa.
The FCO adds: "Border guards use passport stamps and e-gate records to check you’re complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area. If relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport or visible to a border officer on the computer system, a border officer will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit. You can show evidence of when and where you entered or exited the Schengen area, and ask the border officer to add this date and location in your passport. Examples of acceptable evidence include boarding passes and tickets."
How long do you need on your passport to travel to Portugal?
To enter Portugal as a tourist, the issue date on UK passports must be no more than 10 years old on the day the passport holder enters Portugal. There has been some confusion about this, with some airlines requiring passengers' passports' issue dates to be no more than 10 years old throughout their stay in the EU.
Passports must also be valid for three months, at least, after the day the passport holder plans to leave Portugal or the EU.
Portugal's latest Covid-19 entry rules for fully vaccinated and not-fully vaccinated
British tourists can enter mainland Portugal and the Azores islands without needing to take a Covid test if they are either fully vaccinated or have fully recovered from Covid in the past 11 to 180 days. Those who are not fully vaccinated have to take either a proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before boarding or a rapid lateral flow test taken no more than 24 hours before departure.
There are no Covid-19 entry requirements for Madeira.
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