Visitors to the UK from 48 countries must now apply and pay a fee before travel

CNN ^ | January 6, 2025 | Julia Buckley

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We are going to Scotland, Ireland and England in late summer. An unexpected charge just showed up on our Visa with only this description: "UKVI ETAMOBXXXXXXXABCD" ("ABCD" are the last four of our credit card. I searched for "UKVI ETAMOB" and found this UK ETA system. My wife and daughter are planning the trip so my wife must have made the charge.

Isn't it good that the UK government is paying such close attention to ordinary Americans traveling to the UK for short tourist visits? It's not like they have nothing else to worry about.

I posted this January 2025 article to make others aware of this new travel requirement to the UK.

[TexasGator]

“Isn’t it good that the UK government is paying such close attention to ordinary Americans traveling to the UK for short tourist visits? It’s not like they have nothing else to worry about.”

Article says 48 countries.

It tracks non-citizens not with a visa in their country.

EU starts that in 2026.

[hanamizu]

Isn’t it good that the UK government is paying such close attention to ordinary Americans traveling to the UK

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You can avoid the ETA fees and hassle by sailing from France in a rubber dinghy, coming ashore in Kent. It is important that you ditch all ID before landing. The government will give you a phone, put you up in a hotel, often a very nice one, provide food, medical and dental care and some walking-around money.

[Red Badger]

How much?......................

[ProtectOurFreedom]

AND, to top it off, it will arrest any UK citizens who complain about you arriving in that rubber dinghy.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We paid $13.45. Thank goodness it’s that cheap.

[9YearLurker]

Tourism tariffs.

[mewzilla]

Might wanna watch this first...

https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1906279356084654120

Just a thought.

[mewzilla]

And then there's this...

First-generation migrants to make up 25% of Britain by 2035 as population boom takes UK to 73 million, report shows

[Myrddin]

I let my passport expire last year. I needed it for business travel. I used it for two vacations to the UK. I'm not expecting to do either again. UK just keeps tossing more hurdles.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I’m not thrilled about going to the UK with all the crap that is going on there. In Ireland just yesterday, they froze (and stole) a teacher’s savings account at the bank because he refused to us some kid’s “preferred pronoun.” He refused on biblical principles, but the perverts have completely taken over and trounced religion.

The trip started when we were going to go along with our daughter’s business trip to the UK. I think her business was cancelled, but we kept the trip going. I’ll keep my mouth shut and just observe when I’m there.

My wife’s ancestry is Irish (red hair). I doubt we’ll see much of that anymore.

[null and void]

It's good to keep your passport current. It takes a long time to get a new one compared to renewing a current one.

...and if, for whatever reason, you need to leave right now, you're screwed!

[Freee-dame]

I’m so happy that I visited many European countries more than 20 years ago when Europe still seemed to be western civilization.

[riverrunner]

That’s only a extra,80,700,000 in revenue for the country.

[packagingguy]

You should have arrived in a rubber boat and you wouldn’t have been charged.

Their government would also get you a hotel room and meals for free.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

No big deal. It's just the Starmer folks groping behind the sofa cushions for some more loose change. "Other people's money" is a theme here....

Used to fly to and through Heathrow often over decades. Wanna get back your UK ETA "loose change?" Just have one less stout at the lounge. Or a croissant and coffee instead of the "full English breakfast."

[Verginius Rufus]

Does this also apply to someone who just changes planes in England before flying to another country? Fortunately there are many other options for an American traveling to Europe.

[wally_bert]

My first passport should be arriving any week now.

The check cleared a while back.

No plans to go anywhere.

[Ken Regis]

The process is easy, Peezy.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“The process is easy, Peezy.”

It must be. The first I heard about it is when I saw the Visa charge pop up on my alerts. My wife did it. She’s an excellent travel planner as is our eldest daughter.