Millions of visitors passing through the UK each year will soon require a £10 Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
From January 8, 2025, all eligible non-European visitors, including an estimated six million from the US, Canada, and Australia, will need an ETA to travel to the UK. Applications for this group opened on November 27, 2024.
You can access the UK’s page for the ETA application here.
The requirement for European nationals begins April 2, 2025, and applications are available starting March 5, 2025.
Who Needs an ETA?
The scheme applies to all travelers who do not need a visa for short stays and who do not already hold UK immigration status. This follows the earlier rollout of ETAs for Gulf Cooperation Council nations, where 243,000 Gulf nationals were issued ETAs in the first half of 2024.
How Does it Work?
ETAs are obtained via a dedicated app or website and:
- Cost £10.
- Allow multiple journeys for up to six months at a time.
- Are valid for two years or until the linked passport expires.
The UK ETA requirement will also apply to transit passengers. However, it is unclear how this is handled during irregular operations when airlines may reroute and rebook passengers through other than planned connection points, such as London Heathrow.
ETA Required Nationals Now:
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
ETA Required Nationals From January 8, 2025:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- 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
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- South Korea
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Taiwan (if you have a passport issued by Taiwan that includes in it the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan)
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- United States
- Uruguay
ETA Required Nationals From April 2, 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
UK’s Announcement:
UK opens pre-travel requirement to non-Europeans
Non-Europeans can now apply in advance for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and will need one to travel to the UK from January 2025.
The UK Government is introducing Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for millions of visitors who pass through the UK border every year, including six million from the USA, Canada, and Australia. From today all eligible non-European visitors can apply for an ETA and will need one to travel to the UK from 8 January 2025.
Next year, we will open ETA to eligible Europeans, who will be able to apply from 5 March 2025 and will need an ETA to travel to the UK from 2 April 2025. From April 2025, all visitors to the UK who do not need a visa for short stays and who do not already have a UK immigration status will need an ETA.
This expansion follows the successful rollout of ETAs to Gulf Cooperation Council nationals earlier this year. In the first half of 2024, over 243,000 Gulf nationals were issued with ETAs and can now benefit from smoother, easier travel to the UK for short trips.
In 2023, visitors from the USA, Canada, and Australia alone contributed £8.8 billion to the UK economy, supporting the UK’s tourist industry and boosting local businesses across the country. ETAs will enhance security through new technology and make the UK border more efficient, preserving the UK’s appeal as a dynamic, diverse, and exciting destination to visit.
Eligible visitors should apply for their ETA through the UK ETA app, which is quick and simple to use and enables most applicants to receive a decision in hours. Visitors can also apply on GOV.UK if they do not have access to a smartphone.
Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP, said:
This expansion of ETA is a significant step forward in delivering a border that’s efficient and fit for the digital age.
Through light-touch screening before people step foot in the UK, we will keep our country safe while ensuring visitors have a smooth travel experience.
An ETA costs £10, permits multiple journeys, and lasts for two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner. Once granted, ETAs are digitally linked to a traveller’s passport and allow for stays of up to six months at a time – including both short trips and more extended stays. An ETA is not a visa, it is a digital permission to travel.
All travellers to the UK – except British and Irish citizens – will need permission to travel in advance through either an ETA or an eVisa. Replacing physical immigration documents with eVisas lets UK visa holders use online immigration services, take control of their data and prevent against documents being lost, stolen or tampered with.
To ensure the smooth implementation of a digitised border, the UK Government continues to work closely with the travel industry, including airline, maritime and rail carriers, and is delivering a communications campaign to reach visitors about the steps they need to take before they travel to the UK.
Conclusion
Many airlines from countries whose passengers have been able to enter the UK without visas have now issued alerts about this ETA scheme, which will be in place for all non-European nationals from January 8, 2025.
The UK will include all European nationals, excluding Irish, under this same program from April 2, 2025, and the application for these will be open from March 5.
