Only eight days after it officially became effective, the cost for an Electronic Travel Authorisation to visit the United Kingdom may increase by 60% as part of a proposal for the Plan for Change of its government.
Cost For an Electronic Travel Authorisation to Visit the United Kingdom May Increase by 60%
An electronic travel authorisation is now required to visit the United Kingdom effective as of Wednesday, January 8, 2025 if you are a nationality of 48 specific countries and associated territories — and the cost to obtain one per person will be £10.00 or almost $12.20 in United States dollars…
…but that rate may increase by 60 percent.
Changes were proposed before members of Parliament on Thursday, January 16, 2025 in order to provide the flexibility to increase the maximum fee that can be charged on a range of immigration and nationality products and services — including:
- Electronic Travel Authorisation fee from £10.00 to £16.00
- Certificate of sponsorship fee to £525.00
- Naturalisation as a British citizen to £1,605.00
- Naturalisation as a British overseas territories citizen to £1,070.00
“The changes to ETAs, certificates of sponsorship and nationality products are forecast to generate an additional £269 million a year”, according to this article that was posted at the official Internet web site of the government of the United Kingdom. “The legislation laid today will be debated in Parliament and is subject to approval by both Houses. If approved, the proposed new fees will be introduced by amending separate legislation, the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018, as soon as Parliamentary time allows.”
Good news for transit passengers is that “…following feedback from the aviation industry, the government has agreed a temporary exemption for passengers who transit airside, and therefore do not pass through UK border control.” This will primarily affect passengers at London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, as transit facilities acre currently offered at only those two airports in the United Kingdom. “The exemption will be kept under review.”
“An ETA is not a visa, it is a digital permission to travel”, according to the official Internet web site of the government of the United Kingdom. “In 2023, visitors from the USA, Canada, and Australia alone contributed £8.8 billion to the UK economy, supporting the UK’s tourist industry and boosting local businesses across the country. ETAs will enhance security through new technology and make the UK border more efficient, preserving the UK’s appeal as a dynamic, diverse, and exciting destination to visit.”
With the exception of nationalities from Great Britain and Ireland, eventually all travelers to the United Kingdom will need permission to travel in advance through either an electronic travel authorisation or an electronic visa.
Final Boarding Call
Increasing a fee just after it was formally introduced is petty and tacky at best, in my opinion; and is unfair to visitors who want to spend their hard-earned money within the United Kingdom.
This is simply yet another tax to enter the United Kingdom, in my opinion — and it also requires a few minutes of time that the applicant must invest which was not previously required. I did not need to do anything to visit the United Kingdom four months ago — and if I paid anything extra, the payment was included in my airfare of $84.29 round trip between Dublin and Glasgow with Ryanair…
…or it was included in my fare of $200.10 round trip between Chicago and Dublin with Air France…
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
