Americans face shock new visa fee to enter the United Kingdom

Americans readying to question to the United Kingdom volition person to wage a interest to participate the state starting adjacent year. 

The county's physics question authorization (ETA)  interest volition spell into effect connected January 8, 2025, according to the UK government. 

US travelers volition person to wage $13.05 (£10) to get the authorization which volition beryllium digitally linked to passports. 

The authorization volition beryllium valid for aggregate trips implicit 2 years for stays up to six months astatine a time, 'or until the holder's passport expires,' the authorities said. 

US citizens tin use for an ETA starting connected November 27, 2024 and should expect a effect wrong astatine slightest 3 concern days. Each traveler is required to person their ain ETA, including each children.  

'Everyone wishing to question to the UK – but British and Irish citizens – volition request support to question successful beforehand of coming here,' according to the government. 

Seema Malhotra, the United Kingdom's curate for migration and citizenship, said the caller changes are portion of a 'worldwide expansion' of the program. 

'The worldwide enlargement of the ETA demonstrates our committedness to heighten information done caller exertion and embedding a modern migration system,' Malhorta said. 

'Digitization enables a creaseless acquisition for the millions of radical who walk done the borderline each year, including the visitors we warmly invited to the UK who are predicted to lend implicit £32 cardinal to our tourism system this year,' she added. 

The state archetypal introduced the ETA past twelvemonth for visitors successful 7 Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. 

The UK besides plans to grow ETAs to different countries and territories, including Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia. 

In August the European Union announced that Australian citizens would person to wage a caller $11.50 exertion fee to question to the continent successful 2025.

Previously Australians could question visa-free to the past and culture-rich continent, but that's not the lawsuit anymore.

The programme starts successful the archetypal fractional of 2025. 

It's each portion of the caller European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) program, which is simply a caller introduction request for visa-exempt nationals from 60 nations, including Australians. 

ETIAS is simply a caller question authorization request for each Australians traveling to 30 countries wrong Europe.

The participating countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.