All visitors to the UK, apart from British and Irish citizens, will need permission to enter the country before coming here by next spring under an expanded travel visa scheme, the Home Secretary announced on Tuesday.
Rules requiring people visiting the UK without a visa to pay £10 will be expanded to include travellers from most countries from November 2024, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
The previous government introduced the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system last year for people entering or transiting through the UK without legal residence rights or a visa.
ETAs, which cost £10, are currently required for nationals of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
From November it will apply to all other nationals, except Europeans, and be required for entry from January 8 2025.
The programme will by extended to European nationals in March 2025, and be a travel requirement for them from April 2 2025.
In a written statement laid before the House of Commons, Ms Cooper wrote: “Once fully rolled out, the ETA scheme will close the current gap in advance permissions and mean that for the first time, we will have a comprehensive understanding of those travelling to the UK.”
Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra, said: “Digitisation enables a smooth experience for the millions of people who pass through the border every year, including the visitors we warmly welcome to the UK who are predicted to contribute over £32billion to our tourism economy this year.
“The worldwide expansion of the ETA demonstrates our commitment to enhance security through new technology and embedding a modern immigration system.”
But Heathrow airport blamed the ETA scheme for a 90,000 drop in transfer passenger numbers on routes included in the system since it was launched.
It described the programme as “devastating for our hub competitiveness” and urged the Government to “review” the inclusion of airside transit passengers.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK Government continues to work closely with global airline, maritime and rail carriers, who are crucial to ensuring smooth implementation of our digitisation programme.”
Ms Cooper also announced the introduction of a visa requirement for all visitors from Jordan from 3pm on Tuesday due to breaches of visitor rules.
Jordanian nationals will no longer be able to travel to the UK with an ETA.
A four-week “transition period” will be in place for travellers who already hold an ETA and have confirmed travel bookings.
Ms Cooper wrote: “We are taking this action due to an increase in the number of Jordanian nationals travelling to the UK for purposes other than what is permitted under visitor rules since the visa requirement was lifted in February 2024.
“This has included a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims, and high rates of refusals at the border due to people travelling without the intention of visiting for a permitted purpose.”
This has “added significantly to operational pressures at the border”, Ms Cooper wrote.
She added that the decision to introduce a visa requirement was taken “solely for migration and border security reasons”, and the UK’s relationship with Jordan “remains a strong and friendly one”.
