Guide to using an ETA to travel to the UK and how to apply for one

UPDATED 10 September 2024

Nationals that don’t currently need a visa will soon need to apply online for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before visiting or transiting the UK.

The digital travel authorisation has been piloted for those visiting the UK from Gulf states and is set to be rolled out for all non-visa nationals coming to the UK from the start of 2025.

As part of a programme of digitalisation of UK borders and immigration, every traveller from these nations, regardless of age (yes, children and babies included) will soon be required to obtain their own ETA before making their trip to the UK. The aim is to strengthen border security and improve the process of arriving to the UK.

What is an Electronic Travel Authorisation?

The ETA is a prior digital travel permission operating much like the ESTA for the US or the EU’s new ETIAS. The ETA screens arrivals when they apply for the digital pre-travel vetting scheme to come to the UK as a visitor or as a Creative Worker.

It costs £10, permits multiple journeys and is valid for two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.​​

It should be clarified that the ETA will only provide an individual permission to travel to the UK, and it is not equivalent to a visa. While a visa may confer leave to enter, even a visa cannot guarantee entry.  That decision rests with the immigration officer at the airport and they can cancel a visa or refuse permission if they think appropriate (e.g. because the holder’s circumstances/purpose have changed). An immigration officer would still need to authorise your admission and may ask questions about the purpose of your visit, although some nationalities may be able to use e-Passport Gates instead.

An ETA only applies to non-visa nationals.  Visa nationals will always require a valid visa if they wish to enter the UK.

Which visitors should apply for an ETA to enter the UK?

UK Visas and Immigration has launched the ETA as a simple and fast digital vetting scheme for visitors travelling to the UK that fall within the scope. This will include those who visit the UK for tourism, business (more on permitted business activities here) and short-term study. Additionally, individuals from participating nations coming to the UK for up to three months on the Creative Worker visa concession should also apply for the ETA. It should also be noted that if travellers are transiting through the UK, they will still need to obtain a valid ETA, even if they do not go through UK border control.

Visitors coming to the UK to marry or enter into a civil partnership still need to apply for a marriage/civil partnership visitor visa.

Which nationals will need an ETA to visit the UK, and when?

Last autumn the first ETA applications opened to Qatari nationals travelling to the UK on or after 15 November 2023. The system was then extended to nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE for travel to the UK on or after 22 February 2024, phasing out the Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) for most of these nations. The ETA provides a more cost-efficient alternative, costing only £10 for multiple entries across two years as opposed to the EVW’s current application cost of £30 for a single entry of up to six months.

From 3pm on 10 September, 2024, no more ETA’s were issued to Jordanian nationals as the British government has decided that Jordanians will now need to apply for a visa to come to the UK.

The ETA application process will open on 27 November 2024 for the following non-European nationals who do not require a visa and intend to travel to the UK on or after 8 January 2025:

Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Australia
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (including British National (Overseas))
Israel
Japan
Kiribati
Macao Special Administrative Region
Malaysia
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Seychelles
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Korea
Taiwan (only those who hold a passport issued by Taiwan that includes in it the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan)
The Bahamas
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
United States
Uruguay

The ETA application process will then open on 5 March 2025 for the following European national (this includes non EU nations such as Andorra and San Marino too) who do not require a visa for short stays and intend to travel to the UK on or after 2 April 2025:

Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Vatican City

(NB: the lists of visa nationals and non-visa nationals change periodically, so do first check the UK government’s Check if you need a visa site if in doubt.)

Who does not need an ETA to travel to the UK?

The following will not require an ETA:

• British and Irish Citizens;
• A British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC) travelling on their BOTC passport;
• People with a visa (those who already have entry clearance, permission to enter, or permission to stay);
• Settled persons;
• Individuals exempt from immigration control; and
• Third country non-visa nationals who lawfully reside in Ireland and are travelling to the UK to visit from somewhere else in the Common Travel Area (note that if they are Irish residents but are travelling to the UK from outside the Common Travel Area, an ETA will still be required).

How to apply to the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation

Applicants are encouraged to apply for the ETA through the UK ETA app, but for those who are unable to for any reason (e.g., technical issues), they can also fill out an online form. Both can be found here.

There are simple questions to fill in such as name, date of birth, nationality, previous immigration history and criminal convictions.

Those applying will need to provide their biometric information, have a valid passport (biometric chipped or not) and answer a short set of questions to assess their suitability for travel to the UK.

The ETA costs £10 to apply and is non-refundable. The Home Office has prided itself on the ETA being a cost-competitive travel scheme compared to other international schemes such as the USA’s ESTA, which functions similarly to the ETA, but with an application fee of $21 (approximately £17). However, the Home Office also prefaces that as with all visa fees, the ETA application fee is subject to review. Whilst relatively cheap now, it is possible that we may see price changes down the line, much like on 5 October 2023, where we saw visa fee increases of approximately 15% to 20% across the board.

The Home Office have stated that applicants should receive a decision within three working days, but it may occasionally take longer, presumably in more complex circumstances.

The current ETA rules also list cases where applicants must be refused an ETA, such as if they have had previously breached immigration laws grounds (e.g. overstaying, using deception in relation to an immigration application), false representations, and criminality grounds to name a few.  See below for information what you need to do in these cases.

Once granted, the ETA will be valid for two years from the date of grant or until the holder’s passport used in the application expires, whichever is sooner. While the rules state that a person holding a valid ETA can make multiple journeys of up to six months as a visitor, it should be noted that travellers will still likely be subject to the genuine visitor requirement as set out in Appendix V. This means that while ETA holders can be granted permission to stay for up to six months at a time within the two-year period, they should not be living in the UK for extended periods through frequent and successive visits as the Home Office may not be convinced such individuals are genuine visitors. Border force may consider the typical or expected duration of proposed activities and the cumulative amount of time spent in the UK before granting entry.

Is it compulsory to apply for an ETA to travel to the UK from participating countries?

It should also be noted that in the guidance on ETAs, prospective applicants are informed that they must apply for an ETA before they travel to the UK but, rather confusingly, that they can still travel to the UK while they await a decision. It is unclear whether this is simply a temporary provision as the Home Office navigate the first rollouts of ETA applications and are cautiously accounting for possible backlogs. This may be phased out as the ETA becomes more commonplace.

In a letter deposited in Parliament dated 18 October 2023, shortly before the ETA was first rolled out, it was confirmed that the “ETA scheme…will not be enforced until the ETA scheme has been fully rolled out to all non-visa nationals by the end of 2024”. It appears that the Home Office may exercise some discretion if a person needs an ETA and travels to the UK without one, but it should be noted that the rules do allow them to refuse entry in such situations.

What happens if an ETA is refused?

Finally, in the event that an individual is refused, they will be required to apply for a visa such as a Visitor visa or a Creative Worker visa if they seek to come to the UK. As there is no language currently to reflect a cool-down period of sorts for ETA applications, it is being interpreted that if someone has been refused an ETA once, they will never be able to apply for the ETA again. For security purposes, there may be little leeway on repeat ETA applications following refusals (no matter how much time has transpired between the applications), much like how the US equivalent of the ESTA currently functions.

For assistance with visit visas or any immigration advice, please feel free to contact our friendly team of immigration experts. You can call us on +44(0) 207 033 9527 or email us to discuss any aspects of UK immigration at enquiries@vanessaganguin.com