UK ETA for U.S. citizens: £20, 2 years, and who can’t apply

UK ETA for Americans
A U.S. passport holder visiting the UK for up to six months needs an ETA, not a visa. It costs £20, and if you are also a British citizen you cannot get one at all: you travel on your British passport.

The UK's electronic travel authorization, the ETA, is a digital permission linked to your passport. Each traveler, babies included, needs one before boarding, according to the ETA page on gov.uk.

It costs £20 since 8 April 2026, up from £16 in the Home Office fees table. You apply in the official UK ETA app or online, and there is no refund once you have applied.

Who needs a UK ETA, and who doesn't

An ETA covers visits of up to six months for tourism, seeing family or friends, business meetings and short courses, a permitted paid engagement, and transit through a UK airport when you pass through border control.

It does not let you work for a UK company, live in the UK through repeated visits or marry there; marriage needs a Marriage Visitor visa.

Your situation What you need
U.S. passport, tourism or business, up to 6 months An ETA, £20
U.S. passport, working or studying long term A visa: see UK visa from the U.S.
British citizen, including dual U.S.-UK citizens No ETA: a valid British or Irish passport, or a certificate of entitlement
Changing planes without passing border control No ETA; check with the airline

Watch the dual citizen row. gov.uk is blunt: if you hold British or Irish citizenship, you cannot get an ETA, and you prove your status with a valid British passport or a certificate of entitlement in your other passport. That certificate costs £589 and is now digital, according to the right of abode page.

 A dual U.S.-UK citizen cannot get an ETA: renew the British passport before the trip, not after. 

How to apply for the ETA

The app uses your phone's camera to scan your passport and your face; the website asks you to upload a photo of the passport and of your face. You pay by credit or debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.

UK ETA in four steps

A decision usually arrives by email within a day, but it can take up to 3 working days, and you must not travel until the confirming email arrives. It carries a 16-digit reference number. You then show only your passport at the border.

What you need to apply
  • The passport you will travel with
  • An email address you can check
  • A credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay
  • A photo of your face that meets the digital photo rules
  • A few minutes per traveler, children included

    • How long it lasts and what can go wrong

    An ETA lasts 2 years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and covers any number of trips. It is linked to the passport you applied with, so a new U.S. passport means a new ETA.

    Traveling as a family

    Each person needs their own ETA, babies and children included. You can apply for someone else in the app if they are with you; if not, apply for them online with a photo of their passport and of their face.

    A criminal record or a past refusal

    gov.uk says an ETA does not guarantee entry, and suggests that people with a criminal record or a previous refusal may want to apply for a Standard Visitor visa instead.

    Refused, or a mistake in the application

    There is no way to edit an ETA. If it is refused or the details are wrong, you apply again and pay again.

    Sites that charge more

    gov.uk warns that other websites may charge more to apply and that you cannot get a faster decision through them. The official routes are the UK ETA app and the gov.uk service.

    Questions go to UK Visas and Immigration by webchat; UKVI does not take ETA enquiries by phone. No British consulate in the U.S. handles ETAs, so a visit to one will not help. To check an existing ETA and its expiry date, use the check service linked from gov.uk.

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