Travel Alert: New Requirements For Entry Into the UK

Revised: January 18, 2025

Originally published January 8, 2025

Beginning January 8, 2025, citizens from the US, Canada, Australia and other non-EU countries traveling to the United Kingdom for short visits, tourism, transit* or business will need an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) if they do not have a UK visa or legal residency in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

*As of January 16, 2025, non-visa nationals no longer need an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to transit the UK airside (ie when you are ONLY connecting through and never leave a UK airport) versus when you need an ETA to transit the UK landside (ie when passing through UK border control). Note that this is considered a temporary exemption and will be kept under review.

Those from the EU will be able to apply for an ETA beginning on March 5, 2025 as they will be required to have an ETA for travel beginning on April 2, 2025.

Other nationalities that ordinarily require a visa to visit the UK will continue to do so and should not obtain an ETA. Here’s the UK’s list of nationalities and when they can apply for an ETA .

Note that this applies when visiting England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As of the end of January, a UK ETA is not required for travel to any of the 14 UK Overseas Territories including Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands.

The ETA is similar to the U.S. ESTA system and acts as a pre-clearance for travel. This change is part of the UK’s move towards a digital border system and will be required for travelers of all ages.

The process can be done via the UK ETA app or online, costs £10 (~$13 USD) and may take up to three working days to process. It is valid for two years or the remaining period of validity on a passport, whichever is shorter and is attached electronically to your passport once approved.

Note that the UK government had announced (alongside granting the temporary exemption for transit passengers) that the cost will increase to £16 but did not indicate when that will take effect.

MY EXPERIENCE GETTING AN ETA

I downloaded the app and repeatedly got a “sorry, there is a problem with the service – try applying for your ETA online or try again later” when I first attempted to get an ETA at the beginning of the year. I finally decided to just apply online after multiple repeated attempts on the app. I found the process including the application to be very straightforward and fast.

_{BEAUTIFUL TIP: One thing to note if you use the app, you will be asked to scan your passport. For US passports, the RFID chip is in the back cover and best practice is to scan the middle of the inside of the back page}