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UK to ‘keep visa-free travel’ for EU citizens post-Brexit

Reports say the UK government plans to keep visa-free travel to the UK for EU visitors post-Brexit.

The BBC says it understands that visitors from EU countries who want to work, settle or study in the UK would have to apply for permission under the new proposals.

EU citizens are currently free to live and work in the UK without a permit.

Managing migration is about access to work and benefits as much as it is about controlling entry at a physical border, the Home Office says.

It says it will publish full details “in due course”.

But reports suggest ministers are likely to face questions about whether there will be a “back door” into Britain and how the Home Office would stop visitors staying longer and getting jobs without a visa or a work permit.

The government has set out that it does not want border checkpoints between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is an EU member state.

Pressure group Migration Watch has welcomed the move, calling it “sensible” and “proportionate”.

The UK already grants visa-free travel to nationals from 56 countries – ranging from the United States to the Maldives.

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