Visitors from outside the British isles who aren’t british and don’t need a visa (will) need an ETA, an Electronic Travel Authorisation, to enter the UK. The measure is gradually phased in so the details differ by nationality, for instance this already applies to some countries of the arabian peninsula.
Continental European and American tourists of all ages will need an ETA to enter the UK starting April 2, 2025. It costs £10 and is valid for two years. It can be requested from March 5.
So no more jumping in my car, nipping over to England? And if … I need a mobile phone? And Twint probably?
Aaawww, I will never see England again (too much hassle). Thank God I spent so much time there in the 80-ies and 90-ies that a border-control-lady one day angrily threatened me not to let me in next time because she does not believe I don’t work in England.
The woman never experienced love …
No, anyone entering the Schengen/EU from a non Schengen/EU country I think so we should be ok here. No idea though how that would go if you come back from f.e. the US? It would be fairly strange if you live here so maybe also only for non EU/non Schengen residents?
I’m curious about how things will play out with regard to Ireland, which is not part of the Schengen Area, in order to guarantee the free movement of people within the British Isles. Will Schengen citizens need an ETA to enter Ireland, considering there is no border control between the Eire and Ulster, which is part of the UK? I understand that citizens of the Republic of Ireland will be exempt from needing an ETIAS since they are part of the EU.
Everyone who didn’t need a visa to visit UK, prior to April 2025, will need this eTA after that, with the EXCEPTION of Ireland.
The interior ministry announced that all visitors who do not require a visa to travel to Britain will need an ETA from April 2, 2025.
"Everyone wishing to travel to the UK –- except British and Irish citizens -– will need permission to travel in advance of coming here.
“This can be either through an ETA or an eVisa,” the Home Office said in a statement.
It is a travel permit digitally linked to the traveller’s passport and is for people entering or transiting the UK without a visa or legal residence rights.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced on Tuesday that all nationalities except Europeans can apply for an ETA from November 27. They will need one travel to Britain from January 8 next year.
The scheme will then extend to eligible Europeans, who will require an ETA from April 2, 2025. They will be able to apply from March 5.
Eligible travellers will need one even if they are just using the UK to connect to an onward flight abroad.
British and Irish passport holders and those with passports for a British overseas territory do not need an ETA.
Travellers with a visa also do not require one, nor do people with permission to live, work or study in the UK, including people settled under the EU Settlement Scheme agreed as part of Britain’s exit from the European Union in January 2020.
BREXIT made the Irish Passport so much more valuable! Irish citizens are treated the same as Schengen citizens for Schengen purposes and British citizens for UK purposes.
Non citizens, who are Schengen citizens can enter Ireland on a European ID and can cross into NI, but can’t enter NI directly without a passport. Irish citizens can enter Ireland on any form of ID and can go from there to the UK using any for of photo ID, but need a passport to enter the UK directly.
Under British law Ireland is not a foreign country and so it opens up many strange exceptions for Irish citizens in the UK and it’s territories.
In both directions! Many people in the UK have started immediately after Brexit to look for ancestors in their genealogical tree that would make them eligible for obtaining an Irish passport…how things change, eh.
The whole ETA and EES business is bonkers and you can expect total chaos at ports and airports if they ever come into force.
My Swiss spouse of 43 years, who lived and worked in the UK for 10 years, will now need a £10 e-visa to enter the UK. I meanwhile have both Swiss and UK passports and so dodge both systems.
It’s simply bureaucracy gone mad. It’s not going to stop illegal immigration nor criminals…
