International Travellers

International Travellers

The UK Government announced the next phase in the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) worldwide for visitors to the UK who do not currently need a visa for short stays, or who do not already have a UK immigration status prior to travelling.

An ETA is a digital permission to travel to the UK and has been introduced as part of the Government’s transformation and digitisation of the UK border. It is currently open to countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). As of 10 September 2024, Jordanian nationals can no longer apply for an ETA.

An ETA costs £10, permits multiple journeys and is valid for two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever date is sooner. The ETA grants travel to the UK for up to 6 months for tourism, visiting family and friends, business or short-term study, and for transiting through the UK.

Over the next six months, the ETA scheme will be rolled out to cover the remaining 83 non-visa nationalities. Please note that all travellers, including those who are transiting through the UK will need to apply for an ETA.

The rollout is planned to commence as follows:

Eligible non-European visitors can apply for an ETA in advance from 27 November 2024 and will need an ETA to travel to the UK from 8 January 2025

Eligible European visitors can apply for an ETA from 5 March 2025 and will need an ETA to travel to the UK from 2 April 2025

Visitors can apply in advance, see the full list of countries of who will need to apply for an ETA on GOV.UK

To help communicate this information, the UK Home Office are hosting weekly ETA information events for travel, tourism, business travellers and education organisations with dates available between September and December. Please see dates here.

VisitBritain are working closely with the UK Government and will update this information further when we can. We understand this may impact existing and pre-planned events and travel arrangements in the coming months and so we want to offer as much support as possible with any questions you may have regarding this new rollout.

For more information and for regular updates on ETAs, please visit GOV.UK. We have also attached a useful document provided by the UK Government.