Do you need an ETA for the UK?
It depends on your passport — and for most visitors the answer is yes. The UK sorts travellers into three groups. Nationals of the roughly eighty-plus visa-free countries and territories — the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, every EU member, the EEA and Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Gulf states, and much of Latin America among them — need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for visits of up to six months. Nationalities outside that list need a Standard Visitor visa instead. And British and Irish citizens, plus anyone already holding UK permission, need neither.
Travelling on a US, Australian, Canadian or New Zealand passport? Our market editions cover your exact case — your rollout dates, your dual-national rules, your transit questions: United States, Australia, Canada or New Zealand.
Whatever the passport, the stakes are the same since 25 February 2026: the UK enforces the scheme at check-in, so carriers must refuse boarding to anyone without valid digital permission. This guide covers the system end to end — what the ETA is, how the application works, the exemptions, the edge cases and the visa route. For the destination itself, start at the United Kingdom overview.
What the ETA is — and what it isn't
The Electronic Travel Authorisation is the UK's pre-travel screening for visa-free visitors — the same family of systems as America's ESTA, Canada's eTA and New Zealand's NZeTA. There's no consulate, no interview and no paper: you apply online, the Home Office checks your passport details against security databases, and the approval is stored digitally against that passport. It covers the whole United Kingdom plus Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
It authorises visitor activities only: tourism, visiting family and friends, business meetings and conferences, short study up to six months, permitted paid engagements, and up to three months under the Creative Worker concession. It does not permit employment, settlement, or marriage in the UK — those run through proper visas. Launched in October 2023 with Qatar and rolled out worldwide through 2024 and 2025, the scheme reached full coverage when Europe joined in April 2025.
And one principle to internalise: an approved ETA is permission to travel, not a right of entry. It satisfies the airline, ferry or train operator at departure; the admission decision belongs to Border Force on arrival — though in practice eligible visitors clear the eGates in minutes.
- 1Apply in the UK ETA app or online: The official UK ETA app (App Store / Google Play) scans the passport chip, takes the face photo and submits in about ten minutes; an identical web form exists. A visa service can prepare and check the application end to end if you'd rather delegate it.
- 2Use the exact passport you'll travel with: The ETA binds to one document. Apply with the passport that will board the plane — and if renewal is near, renew first: a new passport always means a new ETA, whatever time the old one had left.
- 3£20 per person, nonrefundable — children included: The fee is £20 per application at the time of writing, paid by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and it is not returned even on refusal. Every traveller needs their own ETA, including babies; parents apply on children's behalf.
- 4Answer the suitability questions honestly: The form asks about criminal history and past immigration breaches, and the screening is automated. Complicated history? Consider the Standard Visitor visa first — a caseworker reviews the full picture there.
- 5Wait for the approval email before travelling: Most decisions arrive within a day; official guidance says allow three working days. Approval comes by email with a 16-digit reference and lives digitally on the passport — nothing to print, but no boarding without it.
Two years, unlimited entries, six months per visit
An approved ETA lasts two years or until the linked passport expires, whichever comes first, with unlimited trips to the UK and up to six months per visit — one of the most generous visitor windows anywhere. One application covers every UK trip in that period, for business and holiday alike.
The six-month allowance is a visitor's margin, not a residence plan: chaining long stays back-to-back to effectively live in the UK is the pattern Border Force is trained to spot, and it can end in a refused entry. When Britain becomes more than a place you visit, the honest route is a visa.
- British and Irish citizens — including dual nationals: Citizens of the UK and Ireland are outside the scheme entirely and cannot hold an ETA. Dual nationals travel on their British or Irish passport, or carry a certificate of entitlement in the other one — a foreign passport alone, with no ETA, is exactly what carriers must now stop.
- Holders of UK visas and immigration status: A valid UK visa, settled or pre-settled status, right of abode, or permission to live, work or study in the UK (or in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) replaces the ETA — that status is already the digital permission carriers verify.
- Airside transit passengers — for now: Connecting through a UK airport without passing border control currently requires no ETA. The exemption is explicitly under review and airlines apply it unevenly — confirm with your carrier, or take the £20 certainty. Any landside connection (bags, separate tickets, an overnight) needs the full ETA.
- A handful of special cases: Children on the official France–UK school trip form, British Overseas Territories and British National (Overseas) passport holders, Irish residents arriving from within the Common Travel Area, and travellers exempt from immigration control are all outside the requirement.
When a visa is needed instead
If your nationality isn't on the ETA list, the route for the same visit is the Standard Visitor visa: an online application, a biometrics appointment and a caseworker's decision — slower and more expensive than the ETA, but serving the identical purpose. The official checker (linked below) resolves which side of the line any passport falls on in seconds.
Purpose can push ETA nationals into visa territory too. Employment for a UK employer needs a sponsored work visa; a course beyond six months needs a student visa; joining a partner or getting married has its own categories. All of these are arranged before travel — the ETA cannot be converted into anything else from inside the UK.
And an ETA refusal is a redirect, not a ban: the Standard Visitor visa route stays open, with a human reviewing the circumstances the automated checks couldn't weigh. Travellers with criminal records often do better starting there.
The eighty-plus visa-free nationalities — including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, all EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Gulf states and much of Latin America. Nationalities outside the list need a Standard Visitor visa instead; British and Irish citizens need neither.
£20 per person at the time of writing, nonrefundable. Most applications are decided within a day; allow up to three working days and don't travel before the approval email arrives — carriers check at departure.
Two years, or until the linked passport expires — whichever comes first — with unlimited entries and visits of up to six months each. A passport renewal always requires a new ETA.
GOV.UK — Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
The UK government's official ETA guide: who needs one, what it permits, and the application itself.
GOV.UK — Check if you need a UK visa or ETA
The official checker: enter any nationality and travel purpose to see which permission applies.
GOV.UK — Standard Visitor visa
The visa route for nationalities and purposes the ETA doesn't cover — including refused applications.
GOV.UK — 'No permission, no travel': ETA enforcement announcement
The official statement confirming full carrier enforcement from 25 February 2026.
Not sure which permission your passport needs — or want the ETA application prepared and checked before it's submitted? Guided support sorts it in one pass.
Apply for your UK ETA