EU Citizens Will Be Required to Pay an Entry Fee to the UK Next Year and Obtain an ETA – Even Infants

This week, the UK government announced a major overhaul of visa-free entry requirements for travellers from next year.  The European Union recently announced that it is rolling out its European Travel Information and Authorisation System and tourists will soon have to pay to enter the EU, and now the UK is also bringing this service back.

By 2 April 2025, the UK's new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will apply to the vast majority of arrivals.

European travellers visiting the UK without a visa will soon be required to pay a £10 (approx. €11.5 or $13) waiver fee.

Even transit passengers who change planes and remain in the take-off area will have to obtain an ETA, raising concerns that UK airlines will be affected. The fee will apply to all visitors to the UK, including babies and children, without a visa or permission to live, work or study.

The new rules, which will come into effect over the next year, will expand the UK's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which was first introduced for Qatari nationals, to include travellers from all other countries, including European Union citizens.

The expansion will begin with the United States in November this year. And over the next year, people from almost all other countries will have to pay for entry. Ireland is the only exception. Currently, travellers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are subject to ETA. 

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued the following statement: ‘Once fully implemented, the ETA scheme will close the current gap in prior authorisation and mean that for the first time we will have a full understanding of those travelling to the UK.’

Jordanian nationals can no longer apply for ETA to enter the UK, according to the UK government's website. 

Attracting EU travellers would not have happened without Brexit, but such schemes are not really new. 

The US Electronic Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which currently costs $21 and is valid for two years, was first introduced back in 2009.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the European Union's ETIAS, which is valid for three years and will cost travellers 7 euros (approximately $7.50), has been postponed until 2025.

The UK officially left the European Union in January 2020.