Americans Traveling to the U.K. Will Now Be Electronically Monitored

The United Kingdom, which comprises England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland has an Electronic Travel Authorization System. According to the Travel Weekly website, the U.K.'s ETA started last year in 2023 required for just inbound travelers from several Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

Now it's adding us travelers from the United States traveling anywhere to the U.K. starting in January 2025.

Here's how this electronical traveling works.

If you're planning a vacation that includes any of the countries within the United Kingdom, a passport with a plane ticket alone won't cut it. We now must apply and be approved for our ETA.

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This approval will be electronically linked to our passport basically digitizing the borders and immigration. The application for this new process starts on November 27 for use starting January 8, 2025.

An ETA will cost 10 British pounds (about $13.10), and they will permit multiple trips to the U.K. for stays of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder's passport expires, whichever is sooner.

Meanwhile, also starting in the first half of 2025, there's a separate electronic system from the U.K. for traveling to European countries according to the Boundless website. It's called the European Travel Information and Authorization System.

ETIAS conducts background checks on applicants to identify potential security risks before granting them travel authorization to 30 European countries. called the  ant to travel to other parts of European continent.

This, too, is linked to our passports and valid for up to three years or until our passport expires, whichever comes first. It will cost around $8.

The countries it includes are part of the Schengen area of Europe which allows people to cross borders freely.

It includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.