Do You Need Both ETIAS and a UK ETA in 2026?

You need both ETIAS and Britain’s ETA only if you are a non-EU, non-UK traveller visiting both the United Kingdom and the Schengen zone on the same trip, for example flying into London and then taking the train to Paris. These are two separate permits, each tied to your passport: a €20 ETIAS for Europe and a £20 travel permit for Britain.

TL;DR: ETIAS and the UK’s ETA are separate systems run by different governments. Americans, Canadians, Australians and other travellers who visit both the UK and Schengen need both. British citizens need just ETIAS for Europe, and EU citizens need just the ETA for Britain. Budget €20 plus £20 and apply on two official portals.

სწრაფი ფაქტები	დეტალი
Two systems?	Yes — ETIAS (EU) and UK ETA (Britain)
ETIAS-ის მოსაკრებელი	€20; valid 3 years
UK ETA fee	£20; valid 2 years
Who needs both	Visitors from outside both blocs, doing both regions
ETIAS-ის გაშვება	Not live yet; start date to be announced by the EU

ძირითადი ფაქტები

• სა ოფიციალური ETIAS სქემა will cost €20 and be valid for three years (or until your passport expires). It is not running yet, and the EU plans to publish the launch date several months ahead of time.
• Visa-exempt travellers of all ages will need ETIAS (ევროპის კომისია, 2026); applicants under 18 and over 70 will not pay the €20 fee.
• The €20 ETIAS fee was fixed by the EU in July 2025, up from an earlier €7 proposal. It will apply once ETIAS launches; ETIAS is not yet in operation and no launch date has been officially set.
• The UK ETA costs £20 and is already running, per ოფიციალური gov.uk ETA გვერდი (accessed 2026).
• Compare both side by side in our ETIAS თან UK ETA შედარება, plus our რა არის ETIAS სახელმძღვანელო.

Do you need both ETIAS and a UK ETA?

You need the pair when your trip crosses two borders that run separate schemes — the UK on one side, Schengen on the other — and your nationality is exempt from visas but not from these authorisations. One trip, two systems, two applications.

The classic case is a multi-city holiday. An American couple flying into London for three nights, then Eurostar to Paris and on to Rome, touches both regimes: Britain wants a UK ETA, Schengen wants an ETIAS. Neither covers the other. Our ETIAS, UK ETA and ESTA comparison და before-and-after ETIAS guide map out exactly when each applies.

ETIAS vs UK ETA: two separate systems

ETIAS is the European Union’s travel authorisation for the Schengen area, costing €20 and valid three years. The UK ETA is Britain’s own permit, costing £20 and valid two years. Each has its own government, portal, fee and validity period. They only look alike on the surface.

The UK scheme is already running on the gov.uk site. ETIAS is not in operation yet and will run on the EU’s own portal; its start date will be published with several months’ notice. Both permits are linked electronically to your passport, and neither is a visa. People often assume one confirmation email covers both, but it never does. See how the EU side works in our აპლიკაციის ნაბიჯ-ნაბიჯ ინსტრუქცია, alongside our Schengen explainer.

მთავარი სიახლე	ETIAS (EU)	UK ETA (Britain)
მოიცავს	Schengen area (29 countries)	გაერთიანებული სამეფო
საფასური	€20	£20
სამართლიანობა	3 წელი	2 წელი
Status in 2026	ჯერ კიდევ ხელმისაწვდომი არ არის; стартის თარიღი გამოცხადებული არ არის	Already live
Where to apply	მოგზაურობა ევროპაში. ევროპის კავშირი.	gov.uk

Who needs both, and who needs only one?

Travellers from outside both the EU and the UK (Americans, Canadians, Australians and many more) need both permits when they visit both regions. British citizens need ETIAS alone, and EU or EEA travellers need only the ETA for Britain, because each group is already at home in one of the two zones. Your passport decides your combination.

Work out your own case first. A British family flying to Spain needs ETIAS but no UK permit, since they are already UK nationals. A German visiting London needs the UK ETA but no ETIAS, because they travel inside their own bloc. A Japanese tourist doing London and Amsterdam needs the pair. Our British citizens post-Brexit guide, plus our UK passport holders checklist, cover the British angle in detail.

პროფესიონალის რჩევა: Transiting airside at Heathrow or Manchester without passing border control is currently covered by a temporary UK ETA exemption (some nationalities need a Direct Airside Transit Visa instead), but the moment you clear UK immigration — even for a layover hotel — a UK ETA applies. When in doubt, check the direction and border of every leg separately.

How much do ETIAS and a UK ETA cost together?

Each permit has its own fee: £20 for the UK ETA and €20 for ETIAS, which applies once ETIAS launches (travellers under 18 or over 70 are exempt from the ETIAS fee). ETIAS stays valid for three years and Britain’s permit for two, so the pair covers repeat trips for years rather than a single visit. You pay each fee once, not on every trip.

Spread across their validity, the numbers are small. A traveller who visits London and Europe twice a year pays the two fees once and rides them for the life of each permit. Children under 18 and adults over 70 pay nothing for ETIAS, which trims a family’s bill; the UK government publishes its own age and fee rules for its ETA. For the euro side, see the ETIAS ღირებულების გაიდი და ETIAS მოთხოვნების საკონტროლო სია.

How to apply for both before a UK and Europe trip

Apply for each permit on its own official portal: the UK ETA on gov.uk now, and ETIAS on the EU’s portal once it launches (the launch date will be published several months beforehand). Expect two applications of roughly 20 minutes each.

1. Apply for the UK ETA via gov.uk if your trip includes Britain; it is live and usually decided within days.
2. Apply for ETIAS on travel-europe.europa.eu once it opens (no applications are accepted yet), for your Schengen legs.
3. Use the same passport for both, and enter the details exactly as printed.
4. Pay each fee separately — €20 to the EU, £20 to the UK — by card.
5. Save both confirmations and carry them for every relevant leg of the journey.

The official fees are £20 for the UK ETA and €20 for ETIAS; other websites may charge more, so check the price before you pay. For more, read our ETIAS-თან დაკავშირებული თაღლიბის გაფრთხოვება და ოფიციალური მართლდა მესამე პირის სახელმძღვანელო. Sequence the whole journey with our სამოგზაურო შემოწმების სრული სია.

Common mistakes with the two permits

The biggest slip-ups are assuming one authorisation covers both regions, applying for the wrong one for your direction of travel, and leaving ETIAS to the last minute when its launch and possible processing delays demand more lead time. A little planning removes all three risks.

• Don’t assume overlap: a UK ETA never covers Schengen, and ETIAS never covers Britain.
• Don’t mix up direction: London-bound legs need the UK ETA; Paris-bound legs need the EU one.
• Don’t leave it late: apply for ETIAS as soon as it opens, well before you fly.

A hypothetical example shows why order matters: a traveller from Sydney books a London-and-Paris tour, sorts the UK ETA early, but forgets ETIAS until the week of travel — leaving the Schengen leg in doubt. Handling both together, months ahead, avoids that. The Schengen-ის სამეწაბლო ტრიპების გაიდი და Paris ETIAS გზამკვლელი help with the European side.

ხშირად დასმული კითხვები

Do you need both ETIAS and a UK ETA in 2026?

Only if you hold a passport from outside both the EU and the UK and your trip takes in Britain plus Schengen. UK passport holders need only ETIAS, and EU passport holders need only the British ETA. Everyone else visiting both regions needs both permits.

Is ETIAS the same as a UK ETA?

No. ETIAS is the EU’s authorisation for Schengen, costing €20 for three years. Britain’s ETA is a separate permit, costing £20 for two years. Different governments run each one, on different websites.

Do British citizens need a UK ETA?

No. UK passport holders do not need an ETA for their own country, but they will need ETIAS to enter Schengen once the system launches, since UK nationals now travel as non-EU visitors.

Do EU citizens need ETIAS to visit the UK?

No. An EU passport needs the UK ETA for Britain, not ETIAS, because ETIAS does not apply to EU citizens at all. The direction of travel decides which permit applies.

How much do the two permits cost together?

ETIAS will charge €20 once it launches (under-18s and over-70s are exempt), and the UK ETA costs £20. ETIAS lasts three years and the UK ETA two, so both cover repeat trips.

Can I use one application for both?

No. You apply separately: the UK ETA through gov.uk and ETIAS on the official EU portal. They are run by different authorities and cannot be combined into a single form or payment.

Which do I apply for first?

Apply for whichever your trip needs soonest. The UK ETA is live now; ETIAS is not in operation yet, and the EU will announce its start date several months in advance. If your trip covers both, sort each well before departure to avoid any delay.

ავტორის შესახებ: Anna Reinholt is a Travel Documentation Editor who focuses on ETIAS for non-EU visitors. Every fee and date here is checked against official European Commission and UK government sources. We are an independent travel-information website — not a government body; you apply directly on the official portals. Aktualizováno: 2026-07-08 — facts verified against europa.eu and gov.uk.