New ETA Scheme for 25th February 2026

What is the UK ETA?

An ETA is a digital travel permission, not a visa and not a right to enter. It is obtained through a short online application, either via the official UK ETA app or the GOV.UK service. The current application fee is £16. Most applications are decided automatically in minutes, but the official guidance still recommends allowing three working days in case further checks are needed.

Once granted, an ETA is usually valid for multiple trips over a two-year period or until the passport expires, whichever is sooner. The permission is linked electronically to the passport used for the application. If that passport is renewed or replaced, the traveller needs to apply again. On arrival, border officers still apply the normal visitor rules. The ETA gets someone on the plane. It does not guarantee that they will be admitted when they land.

Full Enforcement of UK ETA Scheme

The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme itself is not new. The ETA has been rolling out since 2023, but the early years have been a relatively soft launch. This latest announcement closes that grace period as ETA moves from “good practice” to hard requirement for a large proportion of visitors who have historically assumed that the UK is simply visa free. As such, from 25 February 2026, carriers will be required to refuse boarding to anyone who cannot show a valid ETA or eVisa.

The core rule is that affected non-visa nationals will need either a valid ETA or another form of digital status that gives them permission to travel, such as an eVisa. Airlines, ferry operators and other carriers will be expected to run checks before boarding and to stop anyone who cannot demonstrate permission. In operational terms, the main screening of visitors shifts further away from the border and into the pre-departure stage.

British and Irish citizens remain outside the ETA system, but the Government has been explicit about dual nationals. Dual British citizens are strongly advised to travel on a British passport or with a certificate of entitlement. If they turn up at check-in with only their other nationality passport, carriers are likely to treat them like any other non-visa national and apply the ETA rules to them.

Who Needs an ETA?

The ETA scheme applies to non-visa nationals who are visiting the UK for short stays, typically up to six months for tourism, family visits, certain business activity and some short courses. It also covers some transit scenarios where a traveller passes through UK passport control as part of a connecting journey. An ETA is only required for transit where the passenger passes through UK border control. Airside transit without entering the UK does not require an ETA.

Where someone needs a Standard Visitor visa or already holds longer-term UK permission, such as a Skilled Worker visa or Indefinite Leave to Remain, they rely on that status instead of the ETA scheme.

The grey areas sit around mixed-nationality families, dual citizens and frequent travellers who hold multiple statuses or passports.

While British and Irish citizens do not need an ETA, from 25 February 2026 they will be expected to prove their right to travel with a valid UK or Irish passport, or a passport containing a certificate of entitlement.

Dual British citizens who try to travel on their non-UK passport may be stopped at boarding unless they can present one of these documents. As such, from 25 February 2026, dual British citizens travelling on their non-UK passport may be refused boarding unless they can prove British citizenship through a valid UK passport or certificate of entitlement.

Anyone relying on right of abode but without a valid document will face extra identity checks and may not be allowed to travel until identity checks confirm their right of abode.

Impact on Travellers to the UK

For visitors, the main change is that risk shifts from the border to the departure gate. The days of booking a last-minute trip on the basis that your passport has always worked at UK passport control are coming to an end. For the travel and tourism sector, the UK is moving closer to the US ESTA model, where permission checks are part of the core booking and check-in process rather than an afterthought.

Visitors from affected countries now have to build ETA into their travel planning in the same way as booking flights and accommodation. Applying on the day of departure is a gamble. The system often returns quick decisions, but there is no guarantee. Where applications are flagged for manual review, the decision can take days, not minutes, and there is no premium service to speed things up.

The groups most at risk are those who rely on habit. Dual nationals who normally present a non-UK passport at check-in, older travellers who depend on others to manage paperwork, families with multiple nationalities and frequent travellers who book late. They will not necessarily struggle with the ETA process itself. The problem is more likely to be that they forget to do it or assume they are exempt.

Impact on Airlines and Intermediaries

Airlines and other carriers are being placed firmly at the front line. If they carry someone without the correct permission, they risk cost and potential enforcement action. The commercial logic is obvious. Faced with any doubt, carriers are more likely to err on the side of refusing boarding than to take a chance on a borderline case.

Travel agents, tour operators and platforms will have to rethink their standard customer communications. Pre-departure emails and app notifications should now reference ETA requirements clearly, not bury them in small print. Cruise and tour itineraries that include a UK leg are particularly exposed. If one member of a group is refused boarding at the start of the trip, the disruption can be significant and the arguments about who is responsible will follow.

Impact on UK Employers & Business Travellers

For employers, this is not just a tourism issue. The enforcement date cuts across routine business practice where visa-free nationals fly in for short visits. The ETA scheme does not create a new right to work problem, but it does add a new layer of friction and risk to how quickly people can be moved into the UK at short notice.

Many organisations rely on senior staff, specialists and clients flying in from the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere for meetings, training, audits, pitches and conferences. Those people will now need an ETA or another valid immigration status at the point of travel. Without it, the visit simply does not happen. The risk lies in short-notice trips. Executives who are used to being booked on the next flight may find that immigration screening has quietly become the rate-limiting step.

Employers should assume that the three working day ETA lead-time becomes the new planning baseline, even if the system often operates faster in practice. Internal expectations about last-minute travel need to catch up. Where a deal or project depends on someone flying in tomorrow, there needs to be a clear understanding of whether they already have a valid ETA and, if not, whether the risk of disruption is acceptable.

HR and mobility teams will need to fold ETA into their standard business visitor and candidate processes. It does not replace a work visa, and it does not grant permission to carry out work in the UK, but it will often be a prerequisite for someone to attend an interview, assessment centre or internal meeting. Internal guidance should make that distinction explicit to avoid false comfort where a manager thinks “they have an ETA so they are fine to work”.

In practical terms, policies and templates that deal with visitors should be updated. Invitation letters, business visitor guidance and travel policies all need to reference ETA where relevant. PAs and travel bookers, who handle most day-to-day arrangements, will need clear instructions on which nationalities are affected and how far in advance travel should be confirmed. Leaving ETA checks to individual line managers will only recreate the patchy compliance picture that already exists around right to work.

February 2026 sounds distant, but in practical terms there is limited time to change behaviours, policies and systems. The risk here is not that the rules are difficult to understand. The risk is that organisations and travellers carry on operating on old assumptions until someone is actually turned away at the airport.

Employers should start by identifying how often they rely on inbound visits from visa-free nationals and where those visitors sit in their wider risk picture. Policies, invitation templates and travel approvals should then be updated so that ETA checks are carried out before flights are booked, not as an afterthought once diaries are fixed and clients have been promised face-to-face meetings.

There is also an opportunity to align ETA planning with wider work on digital right to work checks, eVisa transition and sponsor compliance. Treating all of these elements as one programme of work, owned centrally, is more robust than letting each strand sit with a different manager or team. Immigration risk is now a core part of enterprise risk, not just an HR admin issue.

DMS Perspective

The ETA announcement is another sign that immigration risk is creeping further into areas that used to feel like straightforward corporate housekeeping. We are advising employers to see ETA as part of the same trend as eVisas and digital right to work checks. The Home Office is moving more of its controls upstream and expects businesses to play an active role.

Advice is likely to be needed in two scenarios. First, where an individual has a mixed or adverse history, such as previous refusals, criminal convictions or overstays, and there is concern that an ETA application might either be refused or open up wider questions about their future eligibility for visas. Second, where an employer relies heavily on frequent business visitors and wants to understand how far ETA enforcement should push them towards more structured sponsorship or different workforce planning.

For both groups, the ETA enforcement date is a useful prompt to look at the wider immigration strategy. The question is how to make sure that digital permissions, visitor activity and sponsorship all work together in a way that stands up to Home Office scrutiny and supports the organisation’s commercial objectives.

You will want to reduce the chance that a key visit fails at the gate, likely promoting a more robust appraisal about when visitor status is appropriate and when a proper sponsored route is needed. WE can advise if you have any concerns about permissions to visit the UK for work purposes, including what authorisation is required and what documents and evidence to travel with.

Need Assistance?

What this new announcement signals is a more stringent approach to border vetting of visitors. To avoid issues, take steps to ensure you have the required permission and that you (or your employees or visitors) are travelling with the necessary evidence and proof of permission or status. If you have concerns or questions, book a fixed-fee telephone consultation with one of UK legal advisers to discuss your specific circumstances, either as an employer or an individual traveller.