With the UK in a transition period since it formally left the EU in January, an EU citizen can currently only be refused entry if they present a genuine, present and serious threat.
Regulations being laid in Parliament on Thursday set out the new rules for when the transition period ends, which treat EU and non-EU citizens the same.
The new rules mean from 1 January:
- Any EU citizen sentenced to at least a year in prison will be barred
- EU citizens who have committed any criminal offence in the past year could also be barred
- EU citizens could also be banned if they were sentenced to less than a year in jail, with officials reviewing their full criminal history and links to the UK
- Offenders who have not served a prison sentence could still be barred if there is evidence they are "persistent" criminals, they cause "serious harm" or their presence in the UK is not "conducive to the public good"
People involved in a sham marriage could be banned from entry, and anyone breaching customs regulations could also be turned away.