Landing capability
In short
If you are a visa-free visitor to the UK, yes — an ETA has been mandatory since 25 February 2026. It costs £20 per person, including babies and children, and lets you travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for stays of up to 6 months at a time. Without one, the failure is at the departure gate, not the UK border: airlines will prevent you from boarding without a valid ETA, eVisa or other documentation. A decision usually arrives within a day, but allow up to 3 working days.
Back to the entry hubApplies to
A visa-free visitor flying to the UK for tourism, family, business or short-term study. British or Irish citizens and anyone who already holds a UK visa do not need an ETA.
Check before you rely on it
Facts are from GOV.UK and the UK Home Office and can change; the full list of who is exempt was truncated when read, and the airside-transit exemption is stated as a present rule ('currently'). Confirm your own status on the official page before you rely on it.
Information checked:
Visa-free used to mean you could simply book and fly. It no longer does: the UK now checks for a digital permission before you board, so the trip can fail at your home airport, hours before any British border desk.
The published facts
Each line links the official GOV.UK or Home Office page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-08-08.
An ETA lets you travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for up to 6 months. It is the pre-departure digital permission a visa-free visitor now needs before flying — not the trip itself.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: Overview (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
An ETA costs £20, whether you apply online or through the UK ETA app. That is the whole fee — there is no separate charge to show it at the airport.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: Apply for an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
Each person travelling needs an ETA, including babies and children. A family cannot cover its children under one adult's authorisation — apply once per passport.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: Overview (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
An ETA permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time over two years, or until the holder's passport expires — whichever is sooner. Renew your passport and the ETA linked to the old one no longer works.
Source: UK Home Office media blog (homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk), official factsheet — Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet – April 2026 (source April 2026; read August 8, 2026)
You get a decision by email from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), usually within a day. Allow up to 3 working days (Monday to Friday) to get a decision, but it may arrive much sooner — so do not leave it to the airport.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: Apply for an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
Your ETA is linked to the passport you applied with. You only need to show that passport when you travel to the UK — so apply with, and travel on, the same document.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: Apply for an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
This is where a missing ETA lands: airlines will prevent passengers from boarding if they do not have an ETA, eVisa or other valid documentation. The failure happens at the departure airport, before you ever reach the UK border.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official news release — UK enforces digital permission to travel (source 24 February 2026; read August 8, 2026)
Carriers will be checking people before they travel — the document check is moved to the point of departure, which is why an application still pending on the day of the flight is a boarding problem, not a border problem.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official news release — No permission, no travel: UK set to enforce ETA scheme (source 24 November 2025; read August 8, 2026)
From 25 February 2026 it became mandatory for visitors to the UK to have obtained digital permission to travel. A trip planned under the old visa-free rules now needs the ETA step added before departure.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official news release — UK enforces digital permission to travel (source 24 February 2026; read August 8, 2026)
Those transiting through Heathrow and Manchester airports who do not go through UK passport control do not currently need an ETA. Note the word 'currently' — the source states it as the present rule, not a permanent one (see the could-not-confirm block).
Source: UK Home Office media blog (homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk), official factsheet — Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet – April 2026 (source April 2026; read August 8, 2026)
Who is exempt
Only the entries confirmed word-for-word this pass are listed; the full official list was truncated when read. Sources read 2026-08-08.
You do not need an ETA to travel to the UK if you are a British or Irish citizen — for example if you hold a British or Irish passport.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: When you do not need an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
You do not need an ETA if you have a UK visa. The ETA is for visa-free visitors; a valid visa already carries the permission the ETA would give.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: When you do not need an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
You do not need one if you are transiting through a UK airport without passing through border control (airside) — the factsheet names Heathrow and Manchester as currently exempt.
Source: GOV.UK — UK Home Office, official ETA service page — Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK: When you do not need an ETA (source standing government service page; read August 8, 2026)
Before you book, before you board
The failure point
The document check has moved to the airline, before departure — which changes what a pending application means on the day you fly.
In short
Whether you need one, what fails without it, how early to apply, and how long it lasts.
If you are a visa-free visitor to the UK, yes — an ETA has been mandatory since 25 February 2026 and costs £20 per person, including babies and children. British or Irish citizens and anyone who already holds a UK visa do not need one. It lets you travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for stays of up to 6 months at a time.
The airline stops you at the gate. Carriers check passengers before they travel, and airlines will prevent passengers from boarding if they do not have an ETA, eVisa or other valid documentation. The failure happens at the departure airport, before the UK border — so a still-pending application on the day of the flight is a boarding problem.
A decision from UK Visas and Immigration usually arrives within a day, but the official guidance says to allow up to 3 working days (Monday to Friday). Because the airline checks your documents before boarding, apply well before departure rather than at the airport.
It permits multiple journeys for stays of up to 6 months at a time, over 2 years or until the passport it is linked to expires — whichever is sooner. If you renew your passport, the ETA tied to the old one no longer works and you apply again.
Could not confirm
Facts that circulate widely but were not fully on a page we could open. We leave them here rather than guess.
The companion page: an ETA is not a visa and does not guarantee entry — what it lets you do, and what a refusal means.
Open pageHow the UK's pre-departure ETA sits beside the other arrival rules the entry hub covers.
Open pageFold the ETA into the wider pre-departure setup so nothing is left to the airport.
Open pageNext move
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