US, Canadian and Australian travelers now face UK entry fee

A traveler arrives at Heathrow Airport in London, Dec. 5, 2023. EPA-Yonhap

Guests to the UK from dozens of nations, together with the USA, Canada and Australia, should now pay to enter Britain after a brand new visa-waiver entry system took impact on Wednesday.

The Digital Journey Authorisation (ETA) scheme — much like the ESTA system in the USA— requires guests who don’t want a visa to enter Britain to accumulate pre-travel authorisation.

Costing $12.50 and permitting stays of as much as six months at a time over two years, it first launched in 2023, with Qatar, earlier than being prolonged final 12 months to 5 regional Gulf neighbours.

Now, it has been expanded to incorporate residents of round 50 extra nations and territories, from Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand to Japan, South Korea and Caribbean nations.

With the system kicking in for them on Wednesday, they’ve been capable of apply since final November.

The scheme, geared toward tightening border safety, will subsequent be prolonged to dozens of EU and European nations and territories on April 2.

These residents lined by the scheme will be capable of apply for the brand new ETA — which is digitally linked to the traveller’s passport — by way of an app, from March 5.

Round six million individuals from the USA, Canada and Australia go to Britain annually, in keeping with the U.Okay. authorities.

Eligible travellers will want one even when they’re simply utilizing the U.Okay. to hook up with an onward flight overseas. ETA additionally applies to youngsters and infants.

Tourism influence

Northern Eire financial system minister Conor Murphy has warned the introduction of ETA could have a „devastating“ influence on tourism within the British province, on condition that its neighbour the Republic of Eire is just not concerned with the scheme.

Murphy fears that the fee and crimson tape will deter worldwide vacationers visiting the Republic from making the journey throughout the land border to go to Northern Eire, and has referred to as for a time-limited exemption for individuals visiting as much as seven days.

London’s Heathrow Airport has additionally opposed the scheme, saying its rollout has decreased the variety of passengers transiting via the U.Okay., and that it makes the nation „much less aggressive“ and harms financial development.

The brand new requirement doesn’t apply to British and Irish residents, these with passports from British abroad territories and authorized U.Okay. residents.

It doesn’t change the necessities for residents of nations who want a visa to go to Britain, corresponding to Chinese language, Ecuadorian and South African travellers.

Beforehand, most guests not requiring a visa may arrive at a British airport and proceed via immigration management with their passport.

The brand new U.Okay. entry scheme mirrors the approaching ETIAS scheme for visa-exempt nationals travelling to 30 European nations, together with France and Germany, which is able to price seven euros ($7.40) and final three years.

The European Fee expects the system — which is able to apply to round 60 nations, together with the USA, Canada, Brazil and the U.Okay. — to grow to be operational in the course of this 12 months. (AFP)