Passengers board a plane at the arrivals hall of Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Friday, December 23, 2022.
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The UK will require all visa-exempt travelers to apply for a digital travel permit before entering the country, in a move seen as the biggest change to the force’s rules. border guards for decades.
Passport holders currently entering the country without prior inspection — including citizens of the European Union and the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and others — will be required to register and payment for the Electronic Travel Authorization by the end of 2024.
British and Irish citizens and those with UK settled status will be exempt from this scheme.
The government says the plan will boost border security and is comparable to the one used by countries like the United States and Canada. The UK has previously said that under current rules it does not have completely accurate data on the number of people entering and leaving the country.
The cost of the ETA has not been confirmed but it is expected to be in a similar range with those shows. The US travel authorization electronic system costs $21.
The European Union is set to launch its own digital travel authorization scheme, called ETIASfor visa-exempt citizens by 2024. It will allow travel within 30 countries.
Travelers from certain countries will have easier access to the UK. This program will launch for Qatari nationals in November when it replaces the Electronic Visa Waiver Program and expands to Jordanian citizens in February 2024.
However, it will mark a significant change for many frequent travelers from Europe and elsewhere who currently do not require prior approval.
Applications will be made online or through an application. Biometric passport holders will scan them with their phones and may also need to take a “motion selfie”, which involves movement, to send an image of their face. They will also answer a series of questions.
Their application will be processed automatically, with a decision made within three days. Some applications will be processed faster. If approved, the ETA will be valid for multiple hits for two years.
Citizens who are currently able to use the e-passport portal upon arrival in the UK will continue to be able to do so with ETA.
Anyone arriving at the UK border by air or rail without an ETA will be refused, even if they arrive via Ireland but are not an Irish or UK citizen.
The government previously said it expected to process 30 million ETA applications a year.
It is understood the UK has ambitions to eventually require all travelers to submit fingerprint biometrics before traveling and is working on a plan that will see this sent via smartphones. .
