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Date Published: 13/09/2024

EU visitors to the UK will need to apply for this travel permit from next year

The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be mandatory for tourists travelling to Britain from April 2025

If you come from Spain or anywhere else in the European Union and you’re planning a holiday to the United Kingdom next year, you’ll soon be required to apply for an electronic permit in advance, a measure that’s already in place for non-EU citizens travelling to Britain for tourism purposes.

The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be required of all EU visitors, even children and babies, from April 2025 but travellers can begin applying for it as early as March next year.

The only EU travellers who will be exempt from having to get an ETA to visit the UK are Irish citizens.

The measure was announced by the British Government on Thursday September 12 and is reciprocal to the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), a visa-waiver that will apply to Britons holidaying in Spain and other EU countries in the near future.

How does the ETA work?

ETAs are digitally linked to the traveller’s passport and ensure that more rigorous security checks are carried out before people begin their journey to the UK.

“This helps prevent abuses of our immigration system,” the government said in a statement.

The application can be made using the UK ETA app, which can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App Store. It is also available on the gov.uk website. The applicant will normally receive a response by email within three working days.

How much does it cost and how long is it valid?

Each application will cost 10 pounds (almost 12 euros), even for babies, children and the elderly, unlike the EU’s ETIAS.

Once approved, the ETA permit is valid for two years or until the holder’s passport expires, whichever comes sooner. It will, however, allow multiple trips to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time.

If the applicant’s passport expires, they’ll have to obtain a new ETA.

How does it compare to the ETIAS?

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to any of these 30 European countries: 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, Switzerland.

Like the ETA, it will be digitally linked to the traveller’s passport. The ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. If a new passport is obtained, a new ETIAS travel authorisation must be obtained.

With a valid ETIAS travel authorisation, UK tourists can enter these European countries as many times as they like for short-term stays, usually up to 90 days in a 180-day period.

A word from the British government

Both the ETA and ETIAS are modelled on systems implemented in other countries, such as the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) in the United States. Their aim, according to the powers that be, is to protect borders while streamlining and speeding up travel.

“Digitisation makes it easier for millions of people to cross borders every year, including visitors to the UK who are expected to contribute more than 32 billion to our tourist economy this year,” said Migration Minister Seema Malhotra on the subject of ETAs.

She added that the measure “demonstrates a commitment to improving security through new technologies and the implementation of a modern immigration system.”

Image: Freepik

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