Airline passengers within the arrivals hall at Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.
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The U.K. would require all visa-exempt travelers to use for digital travel authorization before entering the country, in a move considered the largest shake-up of its border force rules in many years.
People holding passports that currently arrive within the country without pre-vetting — including European Union residents and U.S., Canadian, Japanese, Australian, Recent Zealand and other nationals — will all have to apply and pay for Electronic Travel Authorisation. The scheme is ready to be fully rolled out by the tip of 2024.
British and Irish nationals and folks with U.K. settled status will likely be exempt from the scheme.
The federal government says the ETA scheme will strengthen border security and is comparable to that utilized by countries comparable to the U.S. and Canada. The U.K. has previously said that under current rules it doesn’t have wholly accurate data on the number of individuals entering and leaving the country.
The fee of the ETA has not been confirmed however it is predicted to be in an identical range to those schemes. The U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization costs $21.
The European Union is ready to launch its own digital travel authorization scheme, called ETIAS, for visa-exempt nationals in 2024. It would enable travel inside 30 countries.
Travelers from some countries are set to realize smoother access to the U.K. The scheme will launch for Qatari residents in November when it would replace the Electronic Visa Waiver Scheme, and expand to Jordanian residents in February 2024.
Nonetheless, it would mark a big change for a lot of frequent travelers from Europe and elsewhere who don’t currently need pre-approval.
Applications will likely be made online or via an app. Those with biometric passports will scan them using their phone, and may additionally have to take a “dynamic selfie,” involving movement, to submit a picture of their face. They may also answer a set of questions.
Their application will likely be mechanically processed, with a choice given inside three days. Some applications will likely be processed more quickly. If approved, the ETA will likely be valid for multiple visits over two years.
Nationals currently in a position to use e-passport gates on arrival into the U.K. will proceed to have the opportunity to achieve this with an ETA.
Anyone arriving on the U.K. border by air or rail without an ETA will likely be turned away, including in the event that they arrive via Ireland but should not Irish or British residents.
The federal government has previously said it expects to handle 30 million ETA applications a yr.
It is known the U.K. has ambitions to eventually require all travelers to submit fingerprint biometrics ahead of travel and is working on a scheme that will see this submitted by smartphone.
