As we hit the end of January and ‘Brexit day’ I did a bit of digging on business life after Jan 1 2021 (I’m unrolling a thread from twitter here).
A worked example – do I need a visa to go to a meeting in Italy after Jan 2021?
Let’s check the Government advice first… “You may need a visa or permit to stay for longer, to work or study, or for business travel” says the government site.
The Italy advice page offers no additional information but links directly to the Italian Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry pages about travel.
And the Italian Foreign Ministry page offers an interactive Q&A which provides the correct answers on visa requirements for business travel from the UK.
As they apply today.
No mention of post Brexit travel. So there it is. In a nutshell, all of that boils down to ‘nobody knows’. Fair enough, because it is still to be negotiated. But when the Govt PR machine fires up with “business has had years to prepare”, this is the reality. No business can today know with certainty that they can even attend a meeting in their own subsidiaries in EU countries in 2021 without paperwork and checks. There are plenty of ways that can all be sorted out, but let’s not pretend it is sorted already.