If you’re going to the United Kingdom later this year, then you should know that your all-important travel documents are changing.
Starting from Wednesday February 26, you won’t be able to board flights or legally travel to the UK if you don’t have Electronic Travel Authorisation.
The world’s largest international airline, Emirates, issued a travel update informing would-be travellers from Dubai to the UK of the impending changes.
If you don’t require a visa to visit the UK for short stays of up to six months, you will need an ETA.
What is Electronic Travel Authorisation?
Electronic Travel Authorisation is a digital permit allowing visa-exempt foreign nationals to travel to a country. They’re generally quicker to get a hold of than traditional visas and can be done fully online.
The introduction of a new ETA document comes as the UK also plans to move away from physical documentation to eVisas.
It should be noted that if you hold a British or Irish passport or already have permission to live, work or study in the UK, then you won’t require the new ETA documentation.
Applying for the new UK ETA will cost about Dhs80 (£16) and will allow tourists to travel to the UK for tourism and family visits for up to six months.
Each person in your party will need an ETA, including babies and children, but applications can all be completed in one go.
Applications will ask you the reason you’re travelling to the UK and your nationality.
Those who hold a UK visa and use a physical immigration document to prove their travel rights need to take action and replace this document with an eVisa and immigration account on the British government’s website. This also applies to anyone with an expired biometric residence permit or card.
If you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR), normally using a passport stamp to prove their immigration status, then you can not make a free No Time Limit application to access an eVisa.
eVisa holders need to be informed of the passport they intend to use for travel if it is not already linked to their eVisa UK Visas and Immigration account.
The UK is one of the most popular travel destinations for Dubai travellers, with Emirates offering more than 140 weekly flights across the country every week.
British nationals are one of the largest expat groups in Dubai with approximately 240,000 people originally from the UK now calling the UAE home. However, these new travel rules won’t apply to them.
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