Applying For UK ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization): My Experience

In recent times, the United Kingdom has added an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) requirement for visitors from most countries, including the United States. This means that if you’re traveling to the UK, you need complete an application and pay a fee prior to travel.

I’m currently visiting the UK for the first time since this requirement was added, so I’d like to share my experience applying and getting approved for an ETA. While it’s ever so slightly annoying to have to do this, it’s not a big deal, and it went about as smoothly as it could.

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Basics of the £16 UK ETA visa waiver requirement

The UK doesn’t require travelers from many countries to get a traditional visa prior to travel. However, visitors from visa waiver countries (like the United States, Australia, European Union countries, etc.) do need to get an ETA prior to travel.

What’s the difference between a visa and an ETA? Honestly, not much. An ETA is generally much easier and faster to get approved for, and the intent is that it allows travelers to be pre-screened before even boarding their flight to the UK.

To cover the very basics:

• The UK ETA has a £16 application fee, which is charged when you apply
• The UK ETA is intended for those who are visiting for tourism or to see friends and family, and not for business, studying, etc.
• This is required if you’re entering the UK, though isn’t required if you’re merely in transit in the UK, and stay airside at an international airport
• The UK ETA is valid for two years from when it’s issued (or until your passport expires, whichever comes first), and it’s valid for multiple entries
• This is entirely electronic, so it’s linked to your passport; there’s nothing you need to bring with you, but instead, the system will know whether you’ve been approved or not
• Technically it can take three business days (or even longer) for your UK ETA to be approved, but in a vast majority of cases, approval is much faster than that, typically within minutes
• When you arrive in the UK, you can clear the e-gates as usual

My UK ETA application & approval experience

I’m happy to report that applying for a UK ETA is super straightforward, at least based on my experience. The recommended way to apply is through the UK ETA app, which is available in the app store. Alternatively, you can apply through this website, which is recommended if you’re applying for someone else.

But if you’re applying for yourself, the app is the recommended method, as it simplifies the process, so that’s what I did. The entire application took me around five minutes, and that included taking screenshots, and it included me being flustered for around two minutes with the selfie requirement.

During the application, you’ll need to confirm your identity, answer some questions, and pay a fee. Therefore you’ll need the passport that you intend to travel to the UK with, access to a credit card (Apple Pay or Google Pay is fine), and access to your email.

You’ll first be asked for your email address and phone number, and you’ll then get a verification code sent to you.

Next, you have to take a picture of your passport, with the entire picture page visible.

Then you have to access the chip on your passport. This involves opening the inside back page of your passport, and essentially rubbing your phone on the page. You just want the top half of your phone to be on that page, and keep moving it around, until you get a message that this has been successful.

Then you’ll have to take a selfie. You need a solid background and no shadows, which proved to be more challenging than I thought. I found the app to be super picky in terms of the type of picture it would accept, and any sort of shadow caused a rejection.

At least the app has a feature that tells you if the picture looks okay or not, so you can keep trying until it’s successful. It’s better than some other ETA applications, where you choose the picture you submit, and then end up being rejected.

For the next part of the application, you just have to enter your address information.

Then you have to answer some basic questions, about whether you have a job, whether you have a criminal record, and whether you’ve been involved in things like war crimes, genocides, terrorism, supporting extremist groups, etc. (I’m curious how many people answer “yes” to any of those).

Then you have to declare that the information you’ve provided is accurate.

Lastly, you get to the payment portion of the application. You’re asked which country you’re applying from, because that determines in what currency you’ll be charged.

Since I was applying from the United States, I was charged in USD, at the cost of $22.40.

I could pay with Apple Pay, so I didn’t even have to take out a card.

I then received confirmation that my application had been submitted, and received a reference number.

While the confirmation stated that it could take up to three working days to get approval, in reality, I received my approval email five minutes later.

There was nothing else I had to do beyond this. Since the UK ETA is connected to your passport, I was never asked for this at check-in, I could use the e-gates in the UK, etc.

Bottom line

I had my first experience with the UK’s new ETA requirement for Americans (among others). While no one likes having to complete an extra application and paying an extra £16, it was otherwise as straightforward as it could have possibly been.

The application was quick and painless, and I was approved within minutes. Now I’m cleared for two years of UK travel.

If you’ve applied for the UK ETA, what was your experience like?