Britain’s Home Office confirmed on 25 November that its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will become compulsory on 25 February 2026 for visa-exempt nationals of 85 countries, including France. Airlines, Eurostar and ferry operators will be barred from boarding passengers who cannot present an approved ETA or e-Visa. The move ends the two-year ‘voluntary’ phase that began in October 2023.
An ETA costs £16 (€18) and is issued—mostly automatically—via a mobile app. The Home Office says 13 million approvals have already been granted, but it urges applicants to apply three working days in advance in case of manual review. Dual French-British citizens must travel on a UK passport to avoid airline fines.
![UK Sets 25 Feb 2026 Deadline for Mandatory ETA—French Travellers Face New Pre-Travel Check]()
For French business-travel managers, the change introduces a new compliance step for day-trip meetings in London or onward connections through Heathrow. Travel-management companies plan to integrate ETA status checks into online booking tools and preload employee passport data into the Home Office API. Eurostar will pilot dedicated ‘ETA-Verified’ lanes at Paris-Nord and Lille Europe to keep dwell times under 30 seconds.
The UK deadline accelerates a broader trend toward digital pre-authorisation. Schengen ETIAS, which France will help enforce, is slated for late-2026 with a €20 fee, meaning travellers to and from the UK could soon juggle two authorisations. Immigration lawyers note that ETA refusals—though rare—leave only the costly £120 visitor-visa as an appeal route, so corporates should track approval rates and adjust duty-of-care protocols accordingly.
An ETA costs £16 (€18) and is issued—mostly automatically—via a mobile app. The Home Office says 13 million approvals have already been granted, but it urges applicants to apply three working days in advance in case of manual review. Dual French-British citizens must travel on a UK passport to avoid airline fines.
For French business-travel managers, the change introduces a new compliance step for day-trip meetings in London or onward connections through Heathrow. Travel-management companies plan to integrate ETA status checks into online booking tools and preload employee passport data into the Home Office API. Eurostar will pilot dedicated ‘ETA-Verified’ lanes at Paris-Nord and Lille Europe to keep dwell times under 30 seconds.
The UK deadline accelerates a broader trend toward digital pre-authorisation. Schengen ETIAS, which France will help enforce, is slated for late-2026 with a €20 fee, meaning travellers to and from the UK could soon juggle two authorisations. Immigration lawyers note that ETA refusals—though rare—leave only the costly £120 visitor-visa as an appeal route, so corporates should track approval rates and adjust duty-of-care protocols accordingly.
