Entry Requirements and the ETA

The short version

For decades an American could land at Heathrow with nothing more than a passport. That changed in January 2025, when the UK started requiring US citizens to hold an Electronic Travel Authorisation, or ETA, before traveling. Since February 25, 2026, the rule has been enforced strictly: if you need an ETA and do not have one, your airline, Eurostar or ferry company will not let you board.

The good news is that the ETA is cheap, quick and digital. You apply on your phone in about 10 minutes, it usually comes through within a day, and it then covers every trip you make for two years. You do not print anything. The ETA is linked electronically to your passport, and you simply show that passport when you check in and at the border.

Once you arrive, US passport holders can use the automatic eGates at major airports, so most American adults clear UK immigration without speaking to anyone. The rest of this page covers what trips people up: family members, dual citizens, green-card holders, scam websites, refusals, visitor rules, customs and Ireland.

The ETA: who needs one

You need an ETA if you hold a passport from a country on the ETA list, which includes the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the EU countries, and you are coming as a visitor: tourism, seeing family or friends, short business meetings or other permitted activities (see below). It covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

You do not need an ETA if you hold a British or Irish passport, or if you already have permission to live, work or study in the UK (a student or work visa, for example). If you plan to stay longer than six months, study for longer than six months, work, or marry in the UK, an ETA is the wrong document and you need a visa instead. Our page on long stays covers those routes.

Who in the family needs one

Everyone. Each traveler needs their own ETA, including babies and children, and each one costs £20 (about $27). A family of four pays £80 (about $106). There is no family application and no discount for children.

You can apply for other people. If they are with you, do it in the UK ETA app by scanning their passport and face, one person at a time. If they are not with you, apply on the GOV.UK website using a photo of their passport and of their face. Decisions for different people can arrive at different times, so do not panic if one approval lands a day after the others.

Dual nationals

This is the group most likely to get caught out. If you are a British citizen as well as an American, you cannot get an ETA, because British citizens are exempt. Since February 25, 2026, airlines have been checking for this, and a dual British-American citizen who turns up with only a US passport can be refused boarding.

Your options are to travel on a valid British passport, or to have a Certificate of Entitlement to the right of abode placed in your US passport. The certificate is expensive (several hundred pounds) and slower to get than a British passport renewal, so for most people renewing the British passport is the sensible route. If your British passport has expired, start the renewal several months before you plan to fly.

Some Americans are British citizens without realizing it, usually through a parent born in the UK. If that may apply to you, check your status on GOV.UK before you apply.

Irish-American dual citizens are in a simpler position. Irish citizens do not need an ETA, so travel on your Irish passport. If you are an Irish citizen whose Irish passport has lapsed, renew it before you go, since you will otherwise need some other proof of Irish citizenship to satisfy the airline.

Green-card holders and other nationalities

The ETA depends on the passport you hold, not where you live. A US green card does not change anything. If you are a US permanent resident with, for example, a Canadian, Mexican, Japanese or EU passport, you apply for an ETA on that passport. If your passport is from a country whose citizens need a UK visa (India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines are common examples among US residents), you need a Standard Visitor visa instead, which costs £135 (about $180) for up to six months and takes considerably longer. Use the GOV.UK visa checker for each passport in your group.

Families with mixed nationalities need to check each person separately. It is common for one parent to need a visa while the rest of the family needs only ETAs, so start the visa application first and well ahead.

Changing planes in the UK

If your connection means passing through UK border control, for example arriving at Heathrow and flying out of Gatwick, or collecting bags and rechecking them, you need an ETA. If you stay airside and never pass through immigration, the rules have been more forgiving but have changed since 2025, so check GOV.UK and ask your airline. At £20 (about $27), many travelers on complicated itineraries simply get one.

How to apply, step by step

There are two official routes: the free UK ETA app for iPhone and Android, published by the UK Home Office, and the online form at gov.uk/eta/apply. The app is quicker because it reads your passport chip and takes your photo for you. The online form works on any computer but asks you to upload photos of your passport and your face.

1. Have the right passport in hand. Use the exact passport you will travel with. The ETA attaches to that passport number, and if you show up with a different one it will not be found.
2. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play (search "UK ETA" and check that the developer is the UK Home Office), or open the GOV.UK link on a computer.
3. Scan your passport. The app photographs the data page and then reads the chip when you hold the phone to the back cover. Take your case off and be patient; it can take a few tries.
4. Take a photo of your face. Plain background, no glasses, no hat, neutral expression, good even light. A poor photo is one of the main causes of delays and rejections.
5. Answer the questions. You will be asked for your address, job, contact details and email, and a short set of questions about criminal convictions and immigration history. Answer truthfully. You do not need a flight booking or hotel address.
6. Pay £20. Credit card, debit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay are all accepted. Your US card will be charged in pounds, so a card with no foreign transaction fee saves a dollar or so.
7. Wait for the email. Most decisions arrive within a day, often within hours, but allow up to three working days. You must not travel until you have the approval email.

What it costs and how long it lasts

The fee has risen twice since the ETA launched. It was £10 at the start, rose to £16 in April 2025 and went up to £20 (about $27) in 2026. Another increase is possible, so check the current fee on GOV.UK before you budget. There is no refund once you apply, even if you are rejected or cancel your trip.

An approved ETA is valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. During that time you can make as many visits as you like, each of up to six months. You can check if you have an ETA and when it expires at gov.uk/check-eta.

Avoiding ETA scam sites

Search for "UK ETA" and you will find websites and apps that look official, use Union Jack graphics, and charge well above the real fee for "processing". Some submit the same form you could have filled in yourself; others take your money and passport details and deliver nothing. GOV.UK says plainly that using another site or app does not get you a faster decision.

• Apply only through the UK ETA app from the UK Home Office, or through a page whose address ends in gov.uk.
• The fee is £20. If a site quotes a price in dollars, or anything other than £20, you are on the wrong site.
• Ignore sponsored search results and click only after checking the web address.
• Never email a scan of your passport to anyone offering to "handle" your ETA.
• If you think you used a scam site, check at gov.uk/check-eta that an ETA really exists on your passport, and call your card company.

Delays, rejections and refusals

A rejection usually means something was wrong with the application: a blurry photo, a typo in your passport number, a face photo that does not match the passport. You apply again with corrected details and pay the £20 again, since fees are not refunded. The same applies if you need to change details after applying.

A refusal means the Home Office has decided not to give you an ETA, typically because of a criminal record or a past UK immigration problem such as an overstay. There is no appeal. Instead, you can apply for a Standard Visitor visa, where an officer looks at your circumstances in full. Apply well ahead, since visas usually take weeks and need a biometrics appointment.

Passport validity

The UK's own rule is simple: your passport must be valid for the whole of your stay. There is no UK six-month rule. The US State Department also advises having at least one blank page.

If you are adding Paris, Amsterdam or anywhere else in Europe's Schengen area, the rules are stricter: your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years and stay valid for at least three months after you leave the Schengen area. Our page on combining the UK with Europe covers those rules in more detail.

Many adults can renew a US passport online through the State Department. Check current processing times on travel.state.gov, and if you are renewing, wait for the new passport before applying for the ETA.

At the border: eGates and Border Force

Since 2019, US passport holders have been allowed to use the UK's ePassport gates, the automatic barriers at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and other large airports, and at the UK border at some Eurostar terminals in Europe. Your passport needs the small chip symbol on the cover, which every current US passport has.

The rules for using the eGates:

• You must be 8 or older and at least 120 cm (about 3 ft 11 in) tall.
• Children aged 8 to 17 must be with an adult, and each person goes through the gate one at a time.
• Families with a child under 8 go to a staffed desk together.
• You place your open passport on the reader, look at the camera, and the gate opens if everything matches. Your ETA is checked automatically.

The eGates do not stamp passports. For tourists that does not matter, since your entry is recorded electronically. A few visitors need a stamp as evidence of what they were admitted to do, such as performers under the creative worker concession; they must see an officer at a staffed desk instead.

What Border Force officers ask

If you see an officer, the conversation is usually short and polite. Expect "What's the purpose of your visit?", "How long are you staying?" and perhaps "Where are you staying?" or "What do you do for a living?". Answer simply and consistently. "Two weeks' vacation, London and Edinburgh, flying home on the 14th" is a perfect answer.

If your trip is unusual (a long stay, frequent visits, a visit to a partner in the UK), carry evidence that you are a genuine visitor: a return ticket, an itinerary, and something showing your life is based in the US, such as an employer's letter. Having these on your phone helps if questions start.

Customs channels

After immigration comes customs: the green channel if you have nothing to declare, red if you do. Spot checks happen in green too. You can also declare goods online up to 120 hours (five days) before you arrive.

What you can and cannot do as a visitor

An ETA lets you visit under the UK's visitor rules, which normally means stays of up to six months at a time. Within that, the list of permitted activities is broader than many people realize.

Allowed

• Tourism, and visiting family and friends.
• Business visits such as meetings, conferences, negotiating deals, interviews and training on work practices.
• Study, a placement or an exam, for up to six months, including at universities and language schools.
• Recreational courses of up to 30 days, such as a cooking school week.
• Volunteering for up to 30 days with a registered charity, provided it is incidental to your visit.
• Medical treatment, paid for privately.
• Permitted paid engagements, such as giving a lecture or performing as an expert in your field, under specific conditions.
• Some remote work for your US employer, such as answering email, as long as it is not the main reason for your trip.
• Transit through the UK on the way to another country.

Not allowed

• Paid or unpaid work for a UK company or client, or self-employment in the UK, outside the permitted activities.
• Living in the UK through back-to-back visits. There is no fixed limit on how many days a year you can spend, but officers look at your pattern of visits, and spending most of the year in the UK as a "visitor" invites refusal.
• Getting married or registering a civil partnership, or even giving formal notice to do so. For that you come as a Marriage Visitor: some nationalities must apply for a Marriage Visitor visa before traveling, while others come as visitors, so check GOV.UK's visa checker. Many couples marry legally at home and hold the celebration in Britain. See our page on honeymoons and weddings.
• Claiming public funds, which includes most free NHS care. Visitors pay for hospital treatment; see our health page.

Traveling with children

Every child needs their own passport and their own ETA, including newborns. Photographing a toddler with a neutral expression against a plain wall takes patience, so do it in good daylight, not at midnight before the flight.

If a child is traveling with only one parent, with grandparents or with a group, Border Force may ask about the relationship. The UK has no formal consent form, but it is sensible to carry a signed letter from any parent who is not traveling, with their contact details, plus a copy of the birth certificate if surnames differ. Officers are looking for child trafficking and parental abduction, and the questions are routine.

School groups should check every student's passport and ETA well before departure; students with non-US passports may need visas, which take weeks. For family trip ideas, see traveling by interest and planning your trip.

Customs allowances

Into Great Britain

England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain) share one set of duty-free allowances for travelers arriving from outside the UK, including from the US, Europe and Ireland. They are generous for alcohol.

Two rules catch people. First, if you go over an allowance, duty and tax are charged on the whole category, not just the excess: one £500 laptop bag counts as £500 of goods, not £110 over. Second, travelers under 17 get no alcohol or tobacco allowance at all.

The £390 limit covers goods you bring into the country. Things you buy in the UK and take home are a separate question: there is no VAT refund for visitors since 2021, and US customs limits apply on the way back. See shopping and taking things home.

Into Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland follows EU customs rules for goods under the post-Brexit arrangements, so its allowances for arrivals from outside the UK and EU (such as a flight from the US, often via Dublin or London) are lower for alcohol.

If you arrive in Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland or another EU country, you generally do not need to declare goods you bought there with tax paid, for your own use or as gifts. Driving across the land border from Donegal or Dundalk, you will not see a customs post at all. Travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is internal UK travel, with no duty-free allowances.

Food, medicines and banned items

Food

You cannot bring meat or dairy products into Great Britain from outside the UK and EU, including beef jerky, salami and cheese from home. Since 2025, Great Britain has also stopped travelers bringing in most meat and all dairy from EU countries because of animal disease outbreaks on the continent: no cheese, butter, ham, saucisson or beef in your bag on the Eurostar from Paris. Chicken, fish, eggs and honey from the EU are allowed, and there are exceptions of up to 2 kg (about 4.4 lb) for infant formula and medically needed food. Check GOV.UK's food rules page before you travel.

Medicines

Bring medicines in their original labeled packaging, with a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor. Some medicines that are routine in the US are controlled drugs in the UK, including ADHD stimulants and strong painkillers. You can bring up to three months' supply of a controlled drug, carried in your hand luggage, with a letter from your prescriber giving your name, travel dates, and each medicine's amount, dose and strength. Anything beyond three months' supply can be taken away at the border. Medical marijuana and THC products are illegal in the UK even with a US prescription, and CBD products with any THC can cause problems. Our health page covers prescriptions and pharmacies.

Weapons and sprays

Pepper spray and mace are classed as firearms in the UK, and carrying them is a serious offense. Leave pocket knives with locking blades, batons, stun guns and anything resembling a weapon at home. The State Department warns that Americans are arrested for this every year.

Cash

There is no limit on how much money you bring, but you must declare cash of £10,000 (about $13,300) or more arriving in Great Britain from outside the UK, or €10,000 or more arriving in Northern Ireland from outside the EU.

Visiting Ireland too: the Common Travel Area

The UK and the Republic of Ireland share the Common Travel Area (CTA), an old arrangement that lets British and Irish citizens move freely between the two. For Americans, it means fewer passport checks than you might expect, but it does not mean one country's permission covers the other.

The Republic of Ireland

Ireland is a separate country, in the EU but outside the Schengen area. Americans need no visa and no ETA for Ireland. You show your passport to Irish immigration on arrival at Dublin, Shannon or Cork, and you can usually stay up to 90 days. Ireland is not part of the EU's new Entry/Exit System or ETIAS. It uses the euro.

Crossing into Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so you need an ETA to visit it, even on a day trip from Dublin to Belfast or the Giant's Causeway. There are no passport checks on the land border and you may cross it without noticing, but the requirement still applies. The exception is for people legally resident in Ireland, who do not need an ETA when traveling from Ireland.

Flying or sailing between Ireland and Britain

Flights from Dublin to London usually have no UK passport control on arrival, but airlines check your ID and ETA at boarding, so carry your passport. Ferries from Dublin to Holyhead or from Belfast to Cairnryan may have spot checks. In the other direction, Irish immigration checks passports on arrival at Dublin Airport from the UK.

Before you fly: a checklist

• Every passport in the group is valid for the whole trip, with extra margin if you are visiting Europe.
• Every traveler, including babies, has an ETA linked to the passport they will carry, or a visa if their nationality requires one.
• Dual British citizens have a valid British passport; Irish dual citizens are carrying their Irish passport.
• You applied through the UK ETA app or gov.uk, and paid £20 per person.
• You have the approval emails and have checked each ETA at gov.uk/check-eta.
• Medicines are in original packaging with a doctor's letter.
• No meat, dairy, pepper spray or locking knives in your bags.
• Travel insurance that covers medical treatment, since visitors pay for NHS hospital care.
• For next steps, read flights and arrival, money and staying connected.