TravellingChris

The UK Government's Electronic Travel Authority (pre-authorization) has been in effect for nationals of Qatar for some months now and is coming onstream for citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE this week.

Does anyone have any idea when the roll out might be expanded to citizens of Canada and the U.S.? There are no details from the Home Office as to firm dates for additional countries. Just vague information that the requirement will eventually be added for citizens of the rest of the visa-free countries.

fluffymitten

Forgive my ignorance, not being a Canadian or US passport holder, but do you have to apply for a visa waiver before travel or do you just turn up and use the eGates? I presume you're required to apply for something ahead of travel judging by your question.

glbltvlr

It's a visa in all but name and when required you definitely have to apply before travel. More details here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-fo...horisation-eta

plunet

I don't think I have heard any specific timescales other than for the passport holders of the middle eastern nations already signalled.

In an amazing and infrequent development it appears that the UK government has decided that a gradual rollout of the programme and hopefully using that to iron out issues is preferable over inflicting a typical UK cockup on potential visitors, you can at least wait until you get here when you're already part of the captive audience for that treat.

farci

Although Brexit Britain will not be part of the future single Schengen Online Visa application platform, due in 2028, maybe a welcome abundance of caution?
Everything you need to know on the Schengen visa digitalisation

NickB

It would not have been part of it in any event, Brexit or not, since there never were any plans of the UK joining Schengen, even before Brexit.

colm

... If you're from Qatar

glbltvlr

Hence my use of "when required"

Nayef

All they’ve said was that more (all the visa-free) nationalities would be required to use ETA by the end of 2024 though there’s no knowing if they’ll stick to that proclamation or if it will be delayed further than that. Perhaps GCC nationalities are the guinea pig for this after they were given the choice to apply for the now-defunct EVW program.

I just sent an application using my Saudi passport and I’ll let you know how it goes. The few I know who did it got approved in a manner of hours though it says it could take up to three working days. If anyone would like to know how the application process was I’m happy to post about it here (it took me about five minutes from start to finish). A lot less info was required compared to ESTA, Canada’s eTA, NZeTA and Oz’s ETA.

Edit: Just got the approval email. Took 2.5 hours.

Nayef

One bit of a downside is that the application process (whether through the app or website) only goes through the process of the application itself. The app and website can’t tell you the status of your application or valid ETA and you only know the ETA number and validity from the approval email they send. The website says the ETA will be linked to the passport and so no need to show proof of the ETA itself, but I would’ve liked for there to be a way check its status online. And no idea yet if airlines will ask to check it or not, as some systems such as TIMATIC don’t show ETA as a requirement for passports that require it. I won’t be traveling there soon but I’ll check in with people who have and see their experience.

That said, here’s been the process as I’ve experienced it:

1. Enter an email to receive a security code
2. Enter code from email into app
3. Enter phone number (there’s a choice that says I don’t have a phone number)
4. It asks if the passport has a biometric chip
5. Take a pic of your passport data page
6. Scan the biometric chip with your phone
7. Take facial scan
8. Take personal photo
9. Enter your permanent address that you live in most of the time
10. Add other nationalities if you have any (it doesn’t ask for passport details just the country of other nationalities)
11. Asks if you have a job (this includes if you are self-employed)
12. Asks if you had a criminal conviction in any country (except for conviction for activities that are legal in the UK such as having a same-sex relationship)
13. Asks if you’ve ever been involved or suspected in war crimes, genocide, terrorism, supporting extremist groups
14. Gives summary of application
15. Shows declaration cautioning against giving false info
16. Shows a screen to pay 10 quid with Apple Pay or a credit card
17. After payment you’re given an application number and sent an email saying it’s being processed.
18. Received approval email containing an ETA reference number and a validity expiration date.

TravellingChris

Excellent report. Really informative, thanks.
That sounds like a lengthy process though. A lot of steps.

Nayef

You’re welcome! I should’ve added that these many steps took me about five minutes or so the burden isn’t high compared to info required in similar ETA schemes.

Edit: also forgot to add that a friend who recently traveled there with an ETA said she was asked about it by the airline during check-in in Saudi. Timatic doesn’t show the need for an ETA for a Saudi passport but Traveldoc does (which may explain it since she flew on SV and seems like SkyTeam uses Traveldoc).

AviosTreasureHunter

Jordanians will be happy!
Before they had to pay £100 for a visa and have biometrics done!
Now just a £10 online ETA!
Same goes for GCC nationals. £10 online visa for 2 years instead of the £30 per entry EVW before.
With the exception of the UAE, none of those other countries are eligible for visa free/ETIAS entry to the Schengen.

Nayef

It’s definitely an upgrade for us GCC citizens though I’ve been a U.S. citizen for a couple of years so I haven’t had to deal with it a ton. I did get a UK visa back in 2019 and I was refused one back in 2009 so it’s wild that now I can just go in through a gate without talking to anyone at immigration. And I was able to get the ETA rather quickly on my Saudi passport too just like I’d mentioned above.

For GCC citizens there was the Electronic Visa Waiver program (EVW) that was much easier and cheaper than getting a regular tourist visa but it was still cumbersome and pricey. It cost £35 for a single entry and demanded so much information including the exact flight/vessel arriving in not the UK, port of entry, time of entry among other things. When Saudi citizens were forced included in the EVW program, as many as 500 people were refused entry at the border due to incorrect information in the application. So the ETA is such a massive reprieve from that.

Jordan also announced it will be issuing biometric passports soon so it seems like at some point the ETA program will require biometric passports but not yet, as many Saudi and Bahraini passports in circulation are still machine-readable only.

As for ETIAS, the EU has been going through negotiations with GCC countries (sans the UAE) for visa facilitation and they’d announced they started the process for Kuwait and Qatar a couple of years ago but nothing materialized just yet. And who knows perhaps the entire GCC will be visa-free for the Schengen area before ETIAS even sees the light of day at this rate.

:D!

Why did you bother getting an ETA as a Saudi if you're a US citizen?