UK ETA Fee Rises to £20 on April 8 — And It's Not the Only Increase
If you're planning to apply for a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, there's a practical reason to do it before Tuesday. The fee goes up from £16 to £20 on April 8, 2026 — and since the ETA is valid for two years, applying now locks in the lower rate.
That confirmation came via an updated fee schedule published by the UK Home Office on March 18.
A bit of context on where this fits. The ETA launched in October 2023 at £10. It moved to £16 last year. It's now heading to £20 — meaning the cost has doubled in just over two years. The ETA is now mandatory for the vast majority of visa-exempt travellers entering the UK, including those from Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia, so this touches a lot of people.
Visit Visas Are Going Up Too
The UK ETA Fee Rises isn't the only thing changing on April 8. The Home Office has confirmed increases across most visa categories, with visit visas rising by roughly 6-7% across the board.
The standard short-stay visit visa — covering tourism, business, and family visits up to six months — goes from £127 to £135. Long-term visit visas follow the same pattern: the two-year option moves from £475 to £506, the five-year from £848 to £903, and the ten-year from £1,059 to £1,128. Not dramatic individually, but they apply across every visit category without exception.
Work, Study, and Settlement
The increases extend further than short-term travel. Skilled Worker visa fees are rising — an application from outside the UK for a role lasting up to three years moves from £769 to £819, with longer-term applications going to £1,618. Student visa fees go from £524 to £558. Settlement applications will now cost £2,064, up from £1,938.
Nationality applications are affected as well. Naturalisation rises from £1,605 to £1,709, and adult citizenship registration moves to £1,540. One exception worth flagging: registration fees for children are actually coming down, from £1,214 to £1,000.
Planning Travel to United Kingdom?
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The Practical Point
Applications submitted before April 8 stay on current rates. Anything initiated from that date falls under the new schedule. If you're in the middle of an application or planning to start one shortly, the date is worth keeping in mind.
For ETA holders already sitting on a valid authorisation, nothing changes — the two-year validity runs from the date of issue regardless of the fee increase.
