ETA Electronic Travel Authorisation – required before travel to the UK
An ETA is an advance travel permission required by specified non-visa nationals when coming to the UK as a visitor or transiting the UK, or as a Creative Worker seeking entry to the UK pursuant to paragraph Appendix Temporary Work – Creative Worker at CRV 3.2.
Each traveller must get their own ETA, including children and babies. An ETA provides an individual with permission to travel to the UK. It is not permission to enter the UK and the holder of an ETA will need to obtain permission to enter on arrival in the UK.
The requirement is applicable to all routes and modes of entry into the UK, including those coming through the juxtaposed controls or travelling via the Common Travel Area (CTA).
The applicant must be seeking permission to enter the UK as either:
(i) a Visitor (other than a Marriage/Civil Partnership Visitor), staying in the UK for up to 6 months; or
(ii) a Creative Worker who is seeking entry to the UK pursuant to paragraph Appendix Temporary Work – Creative Worker at CRV 3.2.
Our blog is a summary of key information and full details are published by Home Office in their Immigration Rules and Home Office guidance. You should always follow the most recent immigration rules and Home Office guidance applicable at the date of your application.
Who does not need ETA
An ETA is not required for individuals who are one of the following:
- British citizens
- Irish citizens (except those that require permission to come to the UK as they are subject to a deportation order, exclusion order decision, or an international travel ban)
- a British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC) travelling on a BOTC passport
- a person with entry clearance or permission to enter or stay in the UK, including those who are settled
- a person who is exempt from immigration control
- Third country non-visa nationals lawfully resident in Ireland and travelling to the UK to visit from elsewhere in the CTA also do not require an ETA.
For more information see:
• Exemptions for visa applications
• Electronic Travel Authorisation – Irish resident exemption
ETA scheme implementation dates
An ETA is required by specified non-visa nationals in advance of travel to the UK. The ETA scheme will be implemented in a phased manner on the basis of nationality.
The ETA application process opened on 25 October 2023 for Qatari nationals for travel to the UK on or after 15 November 2023. The ETA application process then opened on 1 February 2024 for nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for travel to the UK on or after 22 February 2024.
The ETA application process will open on 27 November 2024 for all remaining non-visa nationals, except for Europeans, for travel to the UK on or after 8 January 2025.
The ETA application process will then open on 5 March 2025 for European nationals for travel to the UK on or after 2 April 2025. For a complete list of the nationalities eligible for an ETA and the date they become eligible see: Immigration Rules Appendix ETA National List ETANL 1.1.
At 15:00 BST on 10 September 2024, nationals of Jordan became visa nationals and were removed from the nationalities eligible for an ETA.
ETA application process
The processing of an ETA application is designed to be automated insofar as possible, and most applicants will have their ETA granted within three working days of submitting their application.
Applicants must complete a short application where they need to provide biographic and biometric data (in the form of a facial image), as well as provide answers to a short series of suitability questions.
ETA application referred to decision maker
As a decision maker Home Office will only need to consider applications where either:
• an applicant’s identity cannot be satisfactorily established automatically
• potentially adverse information has been identified
• an applicant has self-declared criminality, involvement in war crimes, terrorism or extremism
Where an application is referred to a decision maker for consideration on identity grounds, Home Office will need to determine whether the application meets the identity requirements for an ETA, before a decision is made to accept or reject the application.
An application rejected at the identity verification stage will not be assessed against the suitability requirements for an ETA and the applicant is able make a new application.
Where an application is referred to a decision maker for consideration due to potentially adverse information identified through Home Office records; or through self-declared criminality and self-declared involvement war crimes, terrorism or extremism Home Office decision maker will need to determine whether the application meets the suitability requirements for an ETA, before a decision is made to grant or refuse the application.
ETA decision: review and appeals
There is no right to administrative review or appeal against a decision made on an ETA application.
Applicants who have been granted an ETA via a solely automated process will have one calendar month from the date of a grant decision to request a review of this decision by a decision maker. If the Home Office confirm the grant was issued by a fully automated process the decision will be reviewed.
A decision to reject or refuse an application will not be automated. The right to review under Article 22(3) therefore does not apply to any applicants that have been rejected or refused as such decisions will always be made by a human decision maker.
Validity: providing biometrics and proving identity
As part of the ETA application process, applicants are required to provide a facial biometric image. An application cannot normally be valid if the applicant has not provided the required biometric information. The powers to require the provision of biometrics as a condition of an ETA application are derived from the Immigration (Provision of Physical Data) Regulations 2006.
Assessing suitability in ETA applications
Decisions on an ETA application referred to a decision maker on suitability grounds are identified through information contained in Home Office records; or through self-declared criminality and self-declared involvement in war crimes, terrorism or extremism by an applicant.
Where adverse information is traced or declared, the application will be automatically referred for Home Office decision maker’s consideration. Adverse information must be investigated and then, considered against the suitability requirements to determine whether the policy threshold for refusal has been met before a decision is made to grant or refuse the application.
Previous breach of immigration laws grounds
An application for an ETA must be refused if, when they were aged 18 or over, the applicant either:
• overstayed their permission, unless either: o the Home Office holds a record that permission was subsequently granted with knowledge of the overstaying
o the person left the UK voluntarily, not at the expense (directly or indirectly) of the Secretary of State, and the person overstayed for 90 days or less, where the overstaying began before 6 April 2017
o the person left the UK voluntarily, not at the expense (directly or indirectly) of the Secretary of State, and the person overstayed for 30 days or less, where the overstaying began on or after 6 April 2017 o the person left the UK voluntarily, not at the expense (directly or indirectly) of the Secretary of State, and paragraph 39E applies to the period of overstaying
• breached a condition attached to their permission, unless entry clearance or further permission was subsequently granted with knowledge of the breach
• was (or still is) an illegal entrant, unless the Home Office holds a record that permission was subsequently granted with knowledge of the illegal entry
• used deception in relation to an immigration application (whether or not successfully), unless the Home Office holds a record that permission was subsequently granted with knowledge of the deception See: Suitability: previous breach of immigration laws at the What is a breach of immigration laws? section only. All other sections of this guidance must not be used for the purpose of ETA applications.
False representations, etc grounds
An application for an ETA must be refused where in relation to the current or a previous ETA application either:
• false representations were made, or false documents or false information was submitted (whether or not relevant to the application, and whether or not to the applicant’s knowledge)
• relevant facts were not disclosed See: Suitability: false representations, deception, false documents, non-disclosure of relevant facts at the following sections only Mistakes and Meanings of terms used in this guidance. All other sections of this guidance must not be used for the purpose of ETA applications.
Unpaid litigation costs grounds
An application for an ETA must be refused where the applicant has failed to pay litigation costs awarded to the Home Office. See: Suitability unpaid litigation costs at the following sections only What is litigation debt? and How to check if a person owes a litigation debt. All other sections of this guidance must not be used for the purpose of ETA applications.
Previous cancellation of an ETA
An application for an ETA must be refused if the applicant had an ETA cancelled by the Home Office under ETA 5.8, unless the Home Office holds a record that entry clearance, or permission to enter or stay was subsequently granted with knowledge of the cancellation.
The reasons an ETA may be cancelled under ETA 5.8. relate to the validity requirements set out at ETA 1.1. and ETA 1.2. This includes cancellation of an ETA where either:
• the holder was not seeking entry as a visitor or Creative Worker
• the document was not eligible for an ETA
• the holder was not an eligible national for an ETA If an ETA has been cancelled for any other reason, you should not refuse an application solely on the basis of that cancellation. You should consider whether the applicant meets all of the suitability requirements based on their current circumstances, and the information you have available.
Previous refusal as a Visitor
An application for an ETA must be refused if the applicant has previously been refused entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay under Appendix V: Visitor, unless the Home Office holds a record that either:
• a valid ETA, entry clearance or permission to enter or stay was held and was not cancelled as a result of that refusal
• a valid ETA, entry clearance, or permission to enter or stay was subsequently granted with knowledge of that refusal Applicants who have been refused leave to enter under any route other than Appendix V: Visitor should not be refused an ETA on the basis of that refusal.
Self-declared criminality
As part of the ETA application process, applicants are required to disclose any criminal convictions. This is mandatory and an application cannot proceed without the applicant completing a self-declaration. If an applicant answers yes to either of the following questions, a self-declaration has been made:
• have you been convicted of a crime in the last 12 months?
• have you ever had a prison sentence of more than 12 months? Where a self-declaration is made the applicant will be asked to provide the following additional information:
• nature of conviction
• date of conviction
• country of conviction
• type of sentence, (custodial / suspended)
• length of sentence
