Calls for responsibility over travel visa issues

A Jersey resident who missed a connecting flight and had to pay for accommodation because of travel visa problems has called for someone to take responsibility for the confusion.

The British government has introduced electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - a digital permission people need to visit the country.

British or Irish passport-holders should not need one, nor should those with settled status. But British Airways (BA) staff refused to accept Claudia Andrade's mother's Jersey documents as they travelled back from Lisbon via the UK last month.

Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat previously said airlines were "misinterpreting" border rules. BA has been approached for a comment.

Claudia has British and Portuguese passports, but her mother Idalina Andrade, who has lived in Jersey for most of her life, only has a Portuguese passport.

There has been confusion over Jersey's physical immigration documents with the new digital e-visa system with some airlines.

Claudia said "staff just refused to help" when she showed them her mother's documents and "it was definitely a very frustrating and stressful moment".

She said: "My parents live here and they've lived here for longer than they've ever lived in Madeira.

"They're part of the island's society, they've paid their taxes. So why should they have to pay for a visa? Why should they be treated any less than any other citizen or anyone else here?"

Claudia and her mother missed their connecting flight because of the confusion and then had to book extra accommodation because of the delays, and she said she still did not not know who would pay for the extra expense of "probably... a couple of hundreds of pounds".

She said: "I think airlines definitely need to take responsibility if they were informed by the government.

"It was just an absolute nightmare and now my parents are nervous to go on holiday again.

"If the airlines don't provide that help to those people left out of pocket, then I think the government also needs to step up and provide a little bit more support until the airlines actually pay up."

It comes as a politician has asked what support will be made available for those like Claudia and her mother affected by the ETA confusion.

Deputy Catherine Curtis has written to the home affairs minister to clarify what was done beforehand to attempt to prevent such problems.

She has also asked what actions the department would take if such instances happened again, and if people affected could get financial compensation.

Curtis said: "I'm hoping the minister will say whether the airlines will compensate people because I know there's trouble at the moment with people trying to claim.

"I'm just hoping that there could be an indication that more thorough communications will be made to airlines particularly, so that this problem doesn't continue in the short-term and then there may be a response about longer term measures to put things right as well."

The Home Affairs Department has until 17 April to response to Curtis's questions, and has been approached for a comment.

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