New requirements to travel to the UK

Effective January 8, 2025, all U.S. citizens transiting the UK or traveling to the UK for tourism, family visits, business meetings, conferences, or short-term study for 6 months or less will require an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) prior to travel.

An ETA is good for multiple entries within a 2-year timeframe. Everyone travelling needs to get an ETA, including babies and children. The application for an ETA costs €10, or about $15 and it takes about 15 minutes to complete. Processing could take 3-5 business days.

Before you apply for an ETA, you will need:

  • the passport you will travel with - not a photocopy or digital passport
  • access to your emails
  • a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay

You will also need to upload or take photos of the:

  • passport
  • face of the person applying

To apply for the ETA:

  • download and use the UK ETA app from the App Store; or
  • click HERE and hit Continue to begin your application; or
  • click HERE to use CIBT, a trusted third-party visa provider.

For more information regarding this change in policy, please visit The U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom.

New requirements to travel to Europe

Starting in May 2025, a special travel authorization—ETIAS, which stands for the European Travel Information and Authorization System–will be required. Once the program starts, people from the U.S. and other countries will need ETIAS to enter 30 European countries. The document will cost €7, or about $7.50. Travelers under 18 years old or over 70 will not have to pay a fee. The ETIAS travel pass will be valid for 3 consecutive years.

ETIAS is currently not in operation and no applications are collected at this point. It is due to start 6 months after the new Entry/Exit System (EES) is put in place. The EES is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the following European countries using the system: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

For more information regarding this change in policy, please visit European Union ETIAS website.