Foreign visitors to the United Kingdom must meet a number of requirements to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) for the United Kingdom. An eTA for the UK is one of the easiest and fastest methods to get permission to enter the country.

It is not possible to enter the UK without a valid visa or visa waiver unless the passport holder is from a country with a visa-free agreement with the United Kingdom. Applying for a full UK visa often requires visiting a UK mission abroad and approval can take up to 3 weeks. However, in the case of an eTA for the UK, the entire application process is handled entirely online, and approval can be given in about 72 hours. It allows foreign visitors to stay in the UK for up to 90 days per visit and enter the country for different purposes.

This page explains the requirements that travellers to the UK will need to meet in order to enter the country safely. The following are clearly detailed:

Which citizens are eligible for an eTA for the UK?

The UK eTA is for travellers who visit UK visa-free. The nationals from the below countries are welcome to apply for their Electronic Travel Authorizations for visiting the United Kingdom:

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong*, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Macao**, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan***, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay.

*Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (including British national overseas); **Macao Special Administrative Region; ***Taiwan (for travellers whose local passports have the number of the ID Card also issued by the competent authority in Taiwan).

IMPORTANT: The Electronic Travel Authorization takes effect as of 5 March 2025 for the following countries from the EU and the Schengen Area:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City.

Citizens of ineligible nationalities

Citizens of all other nationalities without a visa waiver agreement with the UK must apply for another type of applicable UK visa. In most situations, this requires visiting a local UK embassy or consulate. This process is slower than applying for the online eTA UK. Depending on the type of visa and the applicant’s situation, a decision may take 3 weeks or more. Therefore, it is advisable to allow enough time to submit an application before the expected arrival in in the UK.

What documents are required for an eTA for the UK?

The only document applicants from the visa waiver eligible nations need to successfully apply for their UK eTA is a valid biometric passport.

Once approved, be ready to provide the following:

These can come handy if a Border Officer interviews you upon landing in the UK. Remember, the approved online travel permit does not grant your entry into the UK. It’s up to the Border Authorities to allow you to proceed or not. Dual nationals and those with multiple passports must enter the UK with the same document used during the registration process for the Electronic Travel Authorization. Arriving in the Kingdom with a different passport than the one electronically connected to an eTA will invalidate the visa exemption.

Passport and selfie files

To apply for the Electronic Travel Authorization for the UK, you will have to upload your passport and a recent selfie. There are strict requirements regarding these files.

Passport image file requirements

• The file must contain your passport’s personal information pages.
• The image must be clear, on focus, not blurred or with light reflection.
• All the information on both pages must be well visible, including MRZ – the machine-readable zone at the top of the passport.
• A template