UK ETA Application Cost 2026: The £20 Fee, What It Covers, and How to Apply

Here's a complete, practical breakdown of the UK ETA's cost and the application process from start to finish.

What the UK ETA fee actually is

The UK ETA application fee is a fixed government charge applied per traveller, covering the processing and issuing of your electronic travel authorisation. This fee is separate from, and doesn't include, any other costs associated with your trip — flights, accommodation, travel insurance, or currency conversion charges from your card provider are all additional costs travellers need to budget for separately.

Step-by-step: how to apply for the UK ETA

1. Visit the official GOV.UK ETA application page directly, rather than a search result advertisement or third-party site.
2. Enter your passport details exactly as they appear on your travel document.
3. Upload a digital photograph meeting the specified requirements.
4. Answer the standard eligibility and background questions accurately and completely.
5. Pay the application fee by card to submit your application.
6. Wait for your decision, which in most cases arrives quickly, though it can occasionally take longer.

What the fee does and doesn't cover

The ETA fee covers the authorisation to travel to the UK for permitted purposes — tourism, visiting family, short business trips — within the visa-exempt visitor framework, for the duration of the ETA's validity period. It doesn't cover travel insurance, doesn't guarantee entry at the border (which remains at the discretion of border officials even with an approved ETA), and doesn't cover any visa category beyond the standard short-stay visitor authorisation.

How the ETA cost applies to families

Every travelling family member needs their own individual ETA application and associated fee payment, including infants and young children, regardless of whether they're travelling on their own passport or previously listed on a parent's older-style document. Families should budget for the fee multiplied by the total number of travelling family members, rather than assuming a single household application covers everyone, since the ETA system doesn't support combined family applications under one payment.

How long the ETA remains valid for that single fee

Once approved, the UK ETA is valid for a set multi-year period or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and permits multiple separate trips to the UK within that validity window rather than being a single-use authorisation. This means the fee paid at application covers considerably more than just one trip for most travellers, provided their passport remains valid and their travel purpose continues to fit within the standard visitor framework for each subsequent visit.

Why some websites charge more than the official fee

Unofficial third-party websites offering to process a UK ETA application on your behalf sometimes charge a significant markup over the genuine official government fee, despite providing no meaningfully different service from applying directly yourself. These sites can appear prominently in search results or paid advertisements, making it worth deliberately typing the official GOV.UK domain directly into your browser, rather than clicking the first result that appears, to ensure you're paying the correct official fee rather than an unnecessary premium.

What happens if your application is refused

If your ETA application is refused, the application fee is generally not refunded, since it covers the cost of processing and assessing the application regardless of the outcome, similar to how many other government application fees work. Applicants whose application is refused should review the specific reason given, address any identifiable issue, and consider whether reapplying or pursuing an alternative visa route is more appropriate for their specific circumstances, rather than assuming the fee itself is recoverable.

Payment methods and currency considerations

The UK ETA fee is paid by card during the online application process, and travellers applying from outside the UK should check whether their card provider applies a foreign transaction fee for a payment processed in this way, which would add a small additional cost beyond the headline ETA fee itself. Checking your specific card's foreign transaction fee policy before applying, particularly if you hold a card with more favourable international payment terms, is a small but genuinely worthwhile piece of preparation.

How the ETA cost compares to other UK visa costs

The ETA fee is considerably lower than the cost of most other UK visa categories, reflecting its role as a lighter-touch authorisation for short visits by nationals of visa-exempt countries, rather than a full visa application requiring the more extensive documentation and evidence that categories like work or family visas involve. Travellers whose visit doesn't fit within the standard short-stay visitor framework — those planning to work, study long-term, or join family permanently in the UK — need a different, typically far more expensive visa category rather than the ETA.

Common cost-related mistakes UK ETA applicants make

1. Applying through an unofficial third-party site and paying an unnecessary markup over the official fee.
2. Forgetting to budget for each individual family member's separate application and fee.
3. Assuming the fee is refundable if an application is refused.
4. Not checking for foreign transaction fees that might apply on top of the headline ETA cost.
5. Applying multiple times unnecessarily due to a misunderstanding, incurring the fee more than once.

What to do before you start the application to avoid extra costs

Gathering your passport, a compliant digital photograph, and accurate travel and background information before starting the application reduces the risk of an error that could require correcting and resubmitting, potentially involving an additional fee depending on the specific nature of the mistake. Taking a few minutes to prepare everything needed beforehand, rather than starting the application without this preparation, is a simple step that helps ensure your fee is well spent on a correctly submitted, successful first application.

How processing speed relates to the standard fee

The standard UK ETA fee covers the regular processing timeline, which in most cases delivers a decision quickly, though applicants should still apply with a reasonable buffer before travel rather than assuming instant approval in every case. There isn't currently a separate expedited or priority fee option for faster processing in the way some other countries' travel authorisation systems offer, meaning all applicants pay the same standard fee regardless of how quickly their specific application happens to be processed.

Budgeting the ETA fee into your overall trip cost

While the ETA fee itself is a relatively modest, fixed cost, it's worth including explicitly in your overall trip budget alongside flights, accommodation, and travel insurance, rather than treating it as a negligible afterthought that doesn't need separate consideration. For larger family groups specifically, multiplying the fee across every travelling member gives a more accurate total cost picture than focusing on the modest per-person figure in isolation.

What information you need ready before starting the application

Before beginning the online ETA application, gather your passport, a recent digital photograph meeting the official specifications, your intended travel dates if known, and accurate answers to the standard background and eligibility questions the form asks. Having all of this ready before you start, rather than pausing partway through to search for a document or double-check a detail, makes the application noticeably faster and reduces the chance of an error that could complicate an otherwise straightforward submission.

Why passport accuracy matters for a successful, correctly priced application

Entering passport details that don't precisely match your actual travel document — a mistyped number, an incorrect expiry date, or a name that doesn't exactly align — is one of the more common, entirely avoidable reasons an application runs into trouble after the fee has already been paid. Since a mismatched or inaccurate application may need correcting, and in some cases resubmitting with a fresh fee depending on the specific circumstances, double-checking every detail against your physical passport before submitting is a small step that protects the value of the fee you've already paid.

How the ETA fee fits into pre-Brexit versus post-Brexit UK travel costs

Before the ETA system existed, eligible visa-exempt travellers could enter the UK without any pre-travel authorisation fee at all, meaning the ETA does represent a genuinely new cost that didn't previously apply to this category of traveller. Understanding this context helps explain why some travellers, particularly those who've visited the UK many times before under the older system, are sometimes surprised by the fee — it's a recently introduced requirement, not a longstanding cost that simply increased over time.

What business travellers should know about the standard ETA cost

UK business travellers attending meetings, conferences, or other short business activities generally pay the same standard ETA fee as tourist travellers, provided their specific activity fits within the permitted visitor business activities framework rather than amounting to actual UK employment. Business travellers whose visit involves genuine local employment or a longer-term work arrangement need a different, typically more expensive visa category entirely, rather than assuming the standard ETA and its lower fee automatically covers any work-related travel purpose.

How multi-entry validity changes the real cost-per-trip calculation

Because a single ETA fee covers multiple entries over its full validity period, frequent visitors to the UK — those visiting family regularly, or combining UK visits with wider European travel — effectively pay a considerably lower cost per individual trip than a one-time visitor making just a single journey. Factoring in this multi-entry value, rather than evaluating the fee purely against a single upcoming trip, gives frequent travellers a more accurate picture of the ETA's genuine cost-effectiveness over time.

What happens to the fee if your passport expires before the ETA does

Since the UK ETA is tied directly to the specific passport used during the application, a passport renewal before the ETA's own validity period ends generally requires a fresh ETA application, and therefore a fresh fee, linked to the new passport document. Travellers renewing their passport during an already-approved ETA's validity window should factor in this additional cost and plan to reapply promptly after their new passport is issued, rather than assuming the original approval automatically transfers across to a new passport number.

Comparing the ETA fee against the cost of travel disruption from an invalid application

While the ETA fee itself is a modest, fixed cost, the potential disruption and expense of arriving at the UK border without a valid, properly approved ETA — a missed flight, denied boarding, or a significantly more complicated entry process — considerably outweighs the fee itself. Viewing the ETA fee as a small, worthwhile investment against a genuinely disproportionate potential cost of getting the application wrong or skipping it entirely helps put the modest fee into its proper practical context.

What to check if you're applying on behalf of family members

Parents or family members applying for an ETA on behalf of children or other relatives should ensure each individual application uses that specific traveller's own accurate passport and personal details, with its own separate fee payment, rather than attempting to combine multiple travellers into a single submission. Keeping a clear, organised record of exactly which fee payment corresponds to which specific family member's application — particularly for larger families — genuinely helps avoid confusion if any query later arises about a specific individual's application status.

How to confirm you're being charged the correct, current official fee

Given that government fees are occasionally reviewed and adjusted, applicants should check the currently published official fee directly on the GOV.UK website immediately before applying, rather than relying on a fee figure remembered from an earlier visit or a secondhand source, to ensure they're paying the accurate, current amount rather than an outdated figure. This small verification step genuinely takes only a moment but ensures your expectations match exactly what the official application process will actually and precisely charge you.

What to do if you're charged twice by mistake

If a technical error during the application process results in being charged the ETA fee more than once for what was intended as a single application, contacting official GOV.UK support channels directly with your payment reference and application details is the appropriate first step, rather than assuming a duplicate charge is simply unrecoverable. Keeping your payment confirmation and any application reference numbers accessible after submitting genuinely helps resolve this kind of issue considerably more quickly if it does occur.

How currency and payment card choice can affect the total you actually pay

Since the ETA fee is charged in a specific currency through the official system, travellers paying with a card issued in a different currency should check their card provider's exchange rate and any foreign transaction fee that might apply, since this can add a modest amount on top of the headline official fee itself. Travellers who frequently pay for things internationally sometimes hold a specific card deliberately chosen for its favourable foreign transaction terms, and using that particular card for the ETA application, rather than a standard everyday domestic card, can genuinely reduce this small additional cost meaningfully.

Why the ETA cost is deliberately kept low relative to other visa fees

The relatively modest ETA fee reflects its specific design purpose — a lightweight, high-volume pre-screening tool for millions of visa-exempt short-stay visitors annually, rather than the more resource-intensive, detailed assessment process that full visa categories require. Understanding this underlying rationale genuinely helps explain why the ETA fee sits at such a meaningfully different level compared to, say, a work or family visa fee, which involves considerably more detailed evidence review and a correspondingly higher processing cost that gets reflected directly in the much higher fee ultimately charged for those other categories.

What returning UK visitors should know about paying the fee again

Travellers who previously held an approved ETA that has since expired, either because its validity period ended or their passport was renewed, need to pay the fee again as part of a completely fresh application, since there's no discounted or reduced rate for returning applicants who've held a previous ETA. Treating each and every new ETA application as an entirely separate, standalone transaction, regardless of any prior approval history from earlier trips, genuinely ensures more accurate budgeting for return visitors planning yet another future UK trip down the line.

A practical cost checklist before you apply

• Confirm the current official fee directly on GOV.UK immediately before applying.
• Count every travelling family member requiring their own separate application and fee.
• Check your payment card for potential foreign transaction fees on the charge.
• Have your passport and a compliant photograph ready to avoid a costly, avoidable resubmission.
• Apply with enough time before travel that an occasional processing delay doesn't create pressure.

Final thoughts on treating the ETA fee as routine trip planning

Once you understand exactly what the ETA fee covers, how it applies per traveller, and how to avoid the avoidable extra costs — third-party markups, foreign transaction fees, or a resubmission caused by a preventable data entry error — it becomes a genuinely straightforward, predictable part of planning a UK trip rather than a source of confusion. Treating it with the same routine preparation as booking flights or accommodation, rather than an afterthought, is the simplest way to ensure the fee you pay is exactly what it should be, with no unnecessary surprises along the way.

What travel agents and tour operators charge on top of the official fee

Some travel agents and tour operators offer to handle the ETA application as part of a wider booking package, and while this can genuinely be convenient for travellers who'd rather not manage the application personally, it's worth checking exactly what service fee, if any, is being added on top of the underlying official government charge. Comparing the total combined cost of using this kind of fully assisted service against simply completing the genuinely short official application entirely yourself helps travellers decide honestly whether that added convenience is truly worth the extra cost for their own specific situation and comfort level.

How to keep a clear record of what you paid and when

Saving your payment confirmation, application reference number, and the date of application somewhere easily accessible — alongside your other trip documents — provides a genuinely useful record if any question about the fee or application status arises later, whether that's before travel or even after a subsequent renewal becomes necessary. This small piece of proactive record-keeping costs nothing and takes only a genuine moment, yet it entirely removes any uncertainty about exactly what was paid and precisely when, should that specific detail ever actually genuinely be needed at some later point down the line.

Key takeaways

• The official UK ETA fee is a fixed, per-applicant charge covering the authorisation itself, not other trip costs.
• Applying directly through the official GOV.UK channel avoids markup charged by unofficial third-party sites.
• Every family member, including children, needs their own individual application and fee payment.
• The fee generally isn't refunded if an application is refused, so accurate preparation before applying matters.

This article provides general guidance, not official advice — always verify the current fee and requirements directly on the official GOV.UK website before applying, since fees and requirements are periodically reviewed and updated.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers on the UK ETA's cost, what it covers, and how to apply through the official channel.

For official guidance, visit the UK Government ETA.

Related: Do I Need a Visa for Europe From the UK? 2026 Travel Rules Explained

See also: UK ETA application requirements

See also: what the Canada ESTA equivalent is actually called