{"id":444113,"date":"2026-02-25T03:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444113\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T03:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:45:08","slug":"eta-what-is-the-uks-new-travel-system-and-how-are-dual-nationals-affected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/444113\/","title":{"rendered":"ETA: What is the UK&#8217;s new travel system and how are dual nationals affected?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">An ETA is <a href=\"https:\/\/homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk\/electronic-travel-authorisation-eta-factsheet-february-2026\/\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a digital permission to travel to the UK, external<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">From 25 February, most people who have been able to travel to the UK visa-free until now will need an ETA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The new rules apply to people from 85 different countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Once approved, your ETA will allow you to stay in the UK for up to six months. It will be valid for two years, or until your passport expires, and allows multiple journeys to the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The visit can be for things like tourism, business or short-term study. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It can also be for people who cross the border and travel through the UK as part of a journey, although people transiting through UK airports and who don&#8217;t need to go through border security will not need an ETA. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Longer trips and visits for work or longer study will require a visa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">People who usually need a visa to travel to the UK will still need a visa to travel to the UK. They will not need to apply for an ETA as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">British or Irish citizens will not need an ETA or a visa to visit the UK or to travel through it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/eta\/when-not-need-eta\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">There are a few other exceptions, external<\/a>, such as those with settled status or children travelling from France on a school trip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The scheme was launched in October 2023 but the government says it was &#8220;not strictly enforced to give visitors ample time to adjust to the new requirement&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However, in November, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/no-permission-no-travel-uk-set-to-enforce-eta-scheme\" class=\"ssrcss-1e0jzsh-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the government said, external<\/a> ETAs would be mandatory from 25 February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The government says ETAs will streamline the immigration system, speed it up and make it more secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ETA is a digital permission to travel to the UK, external. From 25 February, most people who&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-444113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}