Something anyone traveling to the UK next year should know about:
The United Kingdom has set Nov. 27 as the date when U.S. travelers can start to apply for the U.K.’s new electronic travel authorization, to be used for travel on or after Jan. 8, 2025.
The U.K.’s new ETA is not a visa, but it will be required of visitors to the country, including children and babies.
Applying for an ETA will incur a nonrefundable fee of 10 pounds (about $13), and applications are available online or through the U.K.’s ETA app, available for download at the App Store or Google Play. Applicants will need their passport, access to their email, and a credit or debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. They’ll need to upload or take photos of their passport and the face of the person applying but won’t need to enter travel details. The approval process usually takes no more than three days, and the ETA is valid for an unlimited number of trips to the U.K for two years, or until the individual’s passport expires.
According to Aviation Week, there’s one possible problem with the new ETAs: Besides being required for visa-exempt persons arriving in the country,
they may also be needed by transit passengers who are merely connecting at U.K. airports. Aviation Week said London Heathrow Airport has warned the government that requiring the new electronic document from transit passengers will make the country less competitive and could hurt its economic growth. The ETA program has been operating on a trial basis with travelers from Middle Eastern nations, and an airport representative told the publication that Heathrow officials want to meet with government ministers “to address this [transit passenger] issue and learn from the lessons of the countries trialed, where we’ve seen the loss of a significant number of transfer passengers already.”