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The British government plans to keep visa-free travel to the UK for EU visitors after Brexit, the BBC understands.
But if visitors from EU countries wanted to work, study or settle in the UK they would have to apply for permission, under the proposals.
EU citizens are currently free to live and work in the UK without a permit.
The Home Office says managing migration is about access to work and benefits as much as the ability to control entry at a physical border.
But ministers are likely to face questions about how they would stop visitors staying longer and getting jobs without a visa.
Plans for the UK’s immigration system are due to be outlined in the autumn.
The government says it wants to progress to negotiations with the EU about the future operation of its border controls, as quickly as possible.
On Wednesday, the government said there should be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.
A paper detailing its proposals stressed there should be no physical infrastructure – such as customs posts – at the border which has almost 300 crossing points.
Critics said the proposals lacked credible detail, with Labour deriding the plans for the border as a “fantasy frontier”. (BBC)
