Agreement sets out detail of new dual immigration controls

The UK/EU treaty means that, once in Gibraltar, persons may circulate between Gibraltar and the EU without the need for further border checks.

Immigration controls at the land border will be removed, though the agreement, in line with the Schengen code, allows for land immigration controls to be reinstated after prior notification in cases where there is a serious threat to public policy, public health or internal security.

The agreement in effect creates a common travel area between Gibraltar and the Schengen zone.

To achieve this, Gibraltar and Spain will carry out cumulative border controls at the airport and port.

In practice, the controls will be only at the airport.

Passengers arriving by sea will be processed at the airport facility too as long as traffic flow through the port “allows for an efficient, high and uniform level of control at the airport border crossing point”, the treaty says.

Gibraltar will ensure maritime arrivals meet that requirement. The ferry link to Morocco will cease and cruise ships will have to call at a Schengen port prior to arriving in Gibraltar, meaning all passengers will be pre-cleared.

The first control on arrival at the airport will be by Gibraltar immigration authorities, followed by a second Schengen control conducted by Spanish Policia Nacional officers operating from a new joint facility – the so-called Schengen shack – spanning the border.

Automated border control systems will be used by Gibraltar and Spain to conduct their respective checks on Gibraltar residents and EU citizens, who will have a separate lane.

Non-EU nationals including non-resident Britons will have a separate lane and will need to meet Schengen entry requirements.

Military personnel and civilian employees from non-EU countries and not resident in Gibraltar will be exempt from passport and visa regulations and the Schengen border checks.

The UK military will instead provide Spain will provide military ID details and movement orders. Visiting non-resident UK forces will not be able to enter Schengen from Gibraltar and may face both sanctions under EU law and disciplinary action if they do.

UK and Gibraltar authorities will not have access to Schengen information systems or databases and will provide advance passenger information of people arriving on flights from outside the EU, including from the UK.

Both Gibraltar and Spain can refuse entry to a third-country person who does not meet their respective entry requirements, or both will refuse if both requirements are not met.

A non-EU national refused entry by Gibraltarian immigration could, if they meet EU requirements and face no further action in Gibraltar, still be allowed entry into the EU by Spanish immigration officials, though they will not be able to remain in Gibraltar.

Spanish officials conducting Schengen checks cannot refuse entry to Gibraltar residents but can refuse entry to non-resident third country nationals, including British nationals who do not live in Gibraltar.

Gibraltar residents will be exempt from the requirements of the EU’s new automated entry/exit system, which comes into full operation on April 10.

If a non-EU national who is not resident in Gibraltar is the subject of “coercive action” by Spain as a result of an EU alert – meaning arrest or detention - they will have the option of submitting voluntarily to EU authorities or flying back to the UK.

If Spanish authorities require the arrest or detention of a Gibraltar resident because of an alert on the EU system, the arrest can only be carried out by authorities in Gibraltar acting on a Spanish request.

That person will have all the normal safeguards under Gibraltar law, including judicial oversight of any subsequent extradition process.

There will also be separate lanes for EU and non-resident persons, who will pass through a customs control staffed by Spanish authorities within the airport terminal but located on the Spanish side of the border.

Gibraltar residents will pass through a separate customs lane staffed by Gibraltar authorities and located in the terminal on the Gibraltar side of the border.