The United Kingdom creates a new permit for international travelers that will favor Arab countries

The United Kingdom has announced the creation of a new electronic authorization for visa-free travelers and for Europeanscalled Electronic Travel Authorization UK (ETA UK), with the aim of improve British border control and fully digitize border systems by 2025.

This system will be introduced in the UK in early 2023 and will be fully operational by the end of this year. Travelers residing in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain They will be the first beneficiaries of this system.

The ETA system will screen visitors before they arrive in the UK. The travelers must provide their basic personal datapassport data and certain safety information by completing an online application form.

According to the Government, this measure will provide “more accurate” information on the number of people traveling to the UK and their countries of origin, as well as making the country “an even safer destination” by being able to detect threats much earlier.

The British Home Secretary, Priti Patelexplained that the ETA UK is not a visa and that Europeans and travelers from countries like the United States and Canada will keep their visa waiver, but “will need an ETA to cross the UK border.”

The validity period of the UK ETA has not yet been announced, but the British government has stated that it is based on the US ESTA system, so it is likely that it “will be valid for at least two years and for multiple trips to Britain”.

Currently, most visa-exempt visitors can stay in the UK for a maximum of six months.

Arab countries, first beneficiaries

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) passport holders will be the first nationalities to benefit from the new UK visa waiver system, once it comes into effect in 2023.

Thus, the ETA UK The ETA will first be extended to the citizens of these countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.