Australians to be charged a fee to enter the UK
While you can still arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport, flash your Aussie passport and head off to the nearest pub for a pint, those days are going to end. We’re soon going to need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the UK. This is not a visa. The ETA is a visa waiver, available to citizens of around 50 countries.
Australians will need to apply and pay for an Electronic Travel Authorisation under upcoming changes to the UK’s entry rules. Credit: AP
The new rules
Every incoming eligible traveller, regardless of age, will require an ETA (unless they already hold a separate visa to enter). Even those transiting through the UK and not passing through border control will also need an ETA. To apply, applicants need a valid biometric passport and an email address. Applications must be submitted online at the GOV.UK website and, according to the UK government, you can expect a response within three working days.
As well as your name, date of birth and citizenship, the ETA application will ask for travel details. Applicants must also answer a “series of personal, security and travel questions”, but what those questions might be is unknown, since the application form has not yet been released. The ETA is expected to cost £10 ($18.60), paid via a credit or debit card.
According to the ETA website “the visa waiver is expected to allow travellers to spend a maximum of six months in the UK and visit any part of the country.” Six months is the current amount of time Australian passport holders are permitted to remain in the UK (without a visa).
As well as tourism and visiting family and friends, the ETA also allows for business and study visits (of six months or less). Once approved, it will be valid for two years. While it allows multiple visits to the UK within those two years, the UK government isn’t saying how long a period must elapse before a return visit. Based on current information, it appears you could stay in the UK for the full six months, hop across to France or Ireland for a weekend and re-enter the UK for another six months.
The government is applying the new ruling progressively, with citizens of Qatar the first to be affected. From November 15, 2023, Qataris will need an ETA to enter the UK. From February 2024 that will also apply to other Gulf State citizens. A date for Australian passport holders is yet to be named, but the government plans to fully digitalise its border entry by 2025. Expect a date sometime in 2024.
Once the ETA system is implemented, entering the UK should remain simple. Incoming travellers will have their e-passport read on a scanner, which will then confirm their identity via facial recognition. Once confirmed, travellers will collect their baggage, pass through customs and proceed to their final destination.
The rationale for visa waivers
The ETA requirement would allow the government to more accurately monitor the number of foreigners within the country, former British home secretary Priti Patel said when the changes were was announced. Under the current system, that number is calculated at surveys carried out at ports of entry. It’s also a method of screening visitors before they arrive in the UK. Since every foreign national will need permission to enter the UK, Patel noted the system would work for the “law-abiding majority” and against persons who attempt to “abuse our hospitality and generous spirit”.
The UK’s ETA system is similar to the US ESTA and the soon-to-be-introduced European Union’s ETIAS visa waiver schemes. All these schemes are a gateway for nationals from countries who present a low risk of overstaying or a security concern to enter the country without the more rigorous process of applying for a visa. However, the various governments want to know who they are and why they’re coming.
Australia already requires every visitor entering the country for tourism purposes to apply for a visa. The only exception is New Zealand citizens, who require only a valid passport. For UK tourists, the requirement is a subclass 651 eVisitor visa. The eVisitor visa allows the holder to visit Australia freely in any 12-month period, staying up to three months per visit, and it’s free.
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