New Home Office performance data published on 27 November and analysed by specialist site VisasNews show that 19.6 million Electronic Travel Authorisations have been granted since the system launched in October 2023. More than half were issued to EU/EEA and Swiss nationals, with US citizens alone accounting for 4.6 million approvals.
The figures confirm that early adoption of the ETA has been robust, aided by batch enrolment pilots with major airlines and cruise operators. The government says the high uptake gives it confidence to switch on ‘permission-to-travel’ controls for all visa-exempt passengers in February 2026.
![UK Issues Nearly 20 Million ETAs Ahead of Full Roll-out, Majority to US and EU Travellers]()
For mobility teams the dataset is useful for modelling visitor flows once the ETA is mandatory. High-volume corporate markets—Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada and Australia—feature prominently in the top-10 list, suggesting that most business travellers are already familiar with the system. Nevertheless, smaller markets may need targeted education to avoid rejection at boarding.
The statistics also show 838,000 long-stay visas issued for work, study and family reasons during the same period, indicating that the ETA complements rather than replaces traditional visa channels. Border systems integrators say lessons learned from the UK’s phased deployment could inform similar schemes planned by Crown Dependencies and other mid-sized economies.
Industry associations continue to lobby for reciprocal fast-track lanes for frequent business visitors once biometric gates are upgraded, but the Home Office says any such moves will follow only after full operational stability is achieved.
The figures confirm that early adoption of the ETA has been robust, aided by batch enrolment pilots with major airlines and cruise operators. The government says the high uptake gives it confidence to switch on ‘permission-to-travel’ controls for all visa-exempt passengers in February 2026.
For mobility teams the dataset is useful for modelling visitor flows once the ETA is mandatory. High-volume corporate markets—Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada and Australia—feature prominently in the top-10 list, suggesting that most business travellers are already familiar with the system. Nevertheless, smaller markets may need targeted education to avoid rejection at boarding.
The statistics also show 838,000 long-stay visas issued for work, study and family reasons during the same period, indicating that the ETA complements rather than replaces traditional visa channels. Border systems integrators say lessons learned from the UK’s phased deployment could inform similar schemes planned by Crown Dependencies and other mid-sized economies.
Industry associations continue to lobby for reciprocal fast-track lanes for frequent business visitors once biometric gates are upgraded, but the Home Office says any such moves will follow only after full operational stability is achieved.
