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UK 2025: ETA Authorization Required for Travel in Addition to Passport

EU citizens who want to travel and enter the UK from 2 April 2025 (authorisation can be applied for from 5 March 2025) will, in addition to holding a passport, which is already mandatory after Brexit, also have to apply for an electronic authorisation called an ETA or Electronic Travel Authorisation.

The ETA can be obtained via app or by filling out an online form and you have to pay £10.

The ETA is not a visa but a travel authorisation needed for short-term stays for tourism, business, visiting family and friends or short study stays.

Italian citizens and citizens of other European countries who would like to go on holiday to the UK or visit London for a weekend, or young people who would like to have a summer English study holiday, must therefore hold a passport and obtain an ETA before travelling.

It is also compulsory for transit only, even if you do not pass through UK border control.

The ETA, once paid for and obtained, has a duration of two years and allows multiple trips to the UK. The ETA is linked to your passport, so if you change your passport you have to reapply for the ETA.

ETA will not be required for those who have a visa or residence permit for work or study or are already resident with a valid residence permit in the UK including holders of pre-settled status or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. British and Irish citizens are excluded from the requirement.

It costs £10 and must be applied for by every traveller including children.

It is normally issued within 3 working days but it is advisable to apply in advance.

You will need your original passport when applying.

UK ETA Passport Maltaway

On the British government website you can get all the detailed and up-to-date information.

Travellers who are non-European citizens listed on the specific list on the government website (e.g. Australia, Canada, USA, Argentina, etc.) will be required to apply for an ETA in advance as early as 8 January 2025, with applications starting on 27 November 2024.

You cannot use the ETA to look for a job in the UK.

When deciding to move to live and work in the UK, there are increasingly stringent rules since leaving Europe.

The new rules in force in the UK after Brexit stipulate that if you have not moved to live in the UK by 31.12.2020 (with a requirement to apply for presettled status by 30/6/21) or you do not already have a pre-settled or settled status you CANNOT enter the UK to look for work but only for tourism.

You are allowed to enter if you find an approved company that offers you a contract and acts as a sponsor to obtain a visa.
There is a list of qualified job positions for which a visa can be obtained.

The salary offered in the job offer by an authorised sponsor must in principle be at least £38,700, unless lower offers are authorised in specific cases for young people up to the age of 26.

It is also necessary to have at least a B1 level of English proven by certification, financial sufficiency for the first month and health insurance. The cost of the visa varies from GBP 719 to GBP 1639.

This trend of continued regulatory burden and controls is in line with the UK’s macroeconomic, financial and fiscal trend, which is continuing to deteriorate severely.

Access to the UK for people, capital, goods and services is becoming increasingly complex, costly and full of barriers, leading citizens and businesses to look elsewhere.

Even for UK residents and citizens, the problem is becoming more and more entrenched, driven by a political and financial situation of heavy imbalance, such that they are being pushed to find solutions in stable, healthy countries with attractive non-dom regimes, such as the non-dom regime in Malta

The UK regulator has stated that over the next 50 years public spending is expected to rise from 45% to over 60% of GDP, while revenues will remain around 40% of GDP. As a result, debt will increase rapidly from the late 2030s to 274% of GDP, rising further to over 300% of GDP when further shocks and pressures are taken into account.

For your international wealth protection solutions, relocation of people, business and assets, Maltaway is your independent international advisory partner.
NB: UK Non-Dom Tax Regime nears end for 2025: Legal and Tax Implications and Maltaway Perspectives