Effective immediately, travelers who do not need a visa to enter the United Kingdom will need to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before their visit.
Currently, ‘non-visa nationals,’ including EU and US citizens, can travel to the UK without a visa for stays of up to six months. However, under the new system introduced by the Home Office, visitors will need to apply for and pay for an ETA before traveling.
Key points to note:
- The UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is an advance travel permission required for foreign nationals visiting or transiting the UK without a visa. The ETA costs £10 and allows multiple trips to the UK.
- Eligible non-Europeans can apply from 27 November 2024 and will require an ETA to travel from 8 January 2025.
- Eligible Europeans can apply from 5 March 2025 and will need an ETA to travel from 2 April 2025.
Here are the current countries this applies to:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
It is the responsibility of travelers to ensure they have the correct travel authorization. For more details, including a list of nationalities eligible for the ETA, please visit gov.uk.
For further information, please refer to the following links: