Visitors from certain countries will have fast-track lines through British border control

The British government announced that citizens from the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan will be able to use E-gates at the border control, when travelling to the UK starting from next year. At the moment only UK, European Union, European Economic Area or Swiss citizens with biometric passports were able to use the E-gates in British airports, while citizens from other countries had to use normal immigration lines for a face-to-face contact with a border officer. Such lines are exceptionally busy and waiting time in Heathrow airport could often reach 2.5 hours.  Chancellor Philip Hammond said that this decision was aimed to “send a message loud and clear to the rest of the world that Britain is open for business”.