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ARCHIVED - EU citizens travelling to the UK will need authorisation to enter by 2024
The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be required of travellers from Spain and several other nations
UK and third country citizens have been hit with a barrage of new travel requirements that will come into play in the next year or so but it seems the tables have turned this week.
The UK Home Office has announced that, before the end of 2024, all EU nationals who don’t need a visa to enter the United Kingdom will instead require a travel pass, known officially as the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
Since Brexit, authorities in the UK have been looking at different ways of strengthening security at its borders, and the Home Office believes the ETA is the next logical step to keep tabs on who is entering the country.
“The scheme will give the UK more control of our borders, allowing us to block threats from entering the UK, whilst also providing individuals, and carriers, with more assurance at an earlier point in time about their ability to travel to the UK,” the UK Home Office explained.
Similar to the ETIAS visa waiver system that UK nationals will need to apply for to travel throughout Europe from the end of this year, EU visitors to Britain, as well as those just passing through to reach another destination, will need to apply for the ETA prior to travel and present it at the border. The authorisation will also be mandatory for people who don’t already have an immigration status prior to travelling.
Visitors from Ireland will not need to apply for the ETA to travel to the UK.
Full details, including the price of the ETA, are still scant, but the Home Offices estimates that once it comes into force, around 30 million applications will be processed every year.
Citizens from the following countries, who don’t require a visa for short stays, will need to apply for the ETA to enter the UK in 2024:
EU/EFTA Member States; Andorra; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei; Canada; Chile; Costa Rica; Dominica; Timor-Leste; El Salvador; Grenada; Guatemala; Honduras; Hong Kong; Israel; Japan; Kiribati; Macau; Malaysia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia; Monaco; Namibia; Nauru; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Palau; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; San Marino; Seychelles; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Korea; Taiwan; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tuvalu; United States; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Vatican City.
Its counterpart, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), is set to be launched in November this year but it will likely be early 2024 before it comes into effect. Alongside this, travellers from the UK and third countries will soon have to pass through the EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES), self-service airport scanners that record the date of entry and exit.
Image: Freepik
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