What happens on the border after 01/01/21?

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I have an EU passport and the settled status. Let’s say I go to visit my mother, come back and what happens at the airport? Do they accept my word that I have the settled status? Apparently the confirmation email is not proof for anything

DD has two passports - if she returns on her British one and I on the EU one will there be two separate queues for us? Thanks!

The fact that there's no definitive answer such basic questions is really a testament to the absolute clusterfuck Brexit is, and the cowardly way it's supporters have gone to ground to guarantee it will be a disaster of epic proportions.

That said ...

• There's no reason why your status should affect your ability to enter the UK. Settled or not, you're still allowed in to visit.

• From the Delphic pronouncements of the Home Office, and team Boris, the UK will continue to operate a single queue for EU and UK passport holders. (Probably because they lack the competence and notice to create a separate system). So you should be able to stay together.

Totally understand your lack of faith in anything the UK government says. We aren't the worlds most reliable country right now.

Thanks, DGRossetti. I expect total shambles but hope to be surprised. Even only at DD’s school there’s so many children with UK/ EU parents and various passport combinations.

EU citizens will require visa to visit though? So logically something will have to be implemented to check the settled status? I’m amazed there is no guidance on this, whilst travel significantly slowed down due to Covid, I expect it will pick up next year. The queues at Heathrow to reenter UK were bad enough already at the end of holidays and half-terms. I’m envisaging bringing a folded stool to perch upon

There is no way for you to prove settled status other than that kind of link you create for landlords etc. Currently, there is no protocol for how settled status will be treated at the border - I would set up one of the links just in case if you plan to re-enter.

There is some international law thing that I keep forgetting the specifics of that essentially allows most people to enter the UK from the EU and vice versa for up to 90 days after Brexit, without a visa. Not sure whether that will still need to be confirmed or whether that is a given already. With Covid, they might restrict access regardless.

The queue into an EU country will be seperate, as the UK will no longer be able to enter through the EU queue. The UK currently plans to keep EU and UK as a single queue but only because they don't have a system and resources in place to separate both.

Basically, if you are eligible for dual nationality and can afford it, it is probably worth going for.