The UK Home Office has announced dates for the worldwide roll out of its Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme. The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which will cost 10 pounds, will soon apply to visitors from Europe, Australia, the US and Canada. It requires tourists to gain permission to enter the country as part of plans to fully digitise its borders by 2025.
The ETA will open up to all other nationalities, except Europeans, this November and be required for entry from 8 January 2025. Europeans, meanwhile, will be required to have an ETA for travel from 2 April 2025, with applications opening up in March. The system, as part of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, operates using an online application whose information is checked against security databases.
If the system does not find adverse information about the applicant, the travel authorisation is granted automatically, otherwise the application is forwarded to an officer to decide whether to grant the authorisation. The system is expected to provide a response within three working days. A UK ETA is valid for multiple entries for two years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever is sooner. It may be used for temporary stays for tourism, visiting family and friends, business, study, certain types of work, or transit. Having an ETA does not guarantee entry into the UK.
The Home Office announced that visa-free nationalities outside of Europe will be able to apply for UK ETA starting 27 November 2024 and be able to use it to travel to the UK on 8 January 2025. While European visa-free nationalities may apply for it on 5 March 2025 and may use it to travel to the UK on 2 April 2025.
Applications for an ETA are made preferably through mobile phones using the UK ETA app, available from the App Store and Google Play. Applications can also be made online at a UK government website. Each traveller, including children and babies, must have an individual ETA.
Applicants for an ETA must:
Upload or take a photo of their original passport
Scan their passport, if it contains an electronic chip and their mobile device can read it
Scan their face, except for children age 9 or younger
Upload or take a photo of themselves
Answer questions about their address, job, criminal history, and other nationalities, if any
If under age 18, provide contact information of someone with parental responsibility for the applicant
Pay a fee of £10 with a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay
The applicant’s information is checked against security databases. If the system does not find adverse information about the applicant, the travel authorisation is granted automatically, otherwise the application is forwarded to an officer to decide whether to grant the authorisation. The decision is sent to the applicant by email, usually within three working days.
If approved, the ETA is digitally linked to the applicant’s passport, so the applicant does not need to show anything else when entering the UK. The ETA is valid for multiple entries for two years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever is sooner. The ETA may be used for temporary stays for tourism, visiting family and friends, business, study, certain types of work, or transit.