At a glance
Start with entry, then price the scouting trip that tests UK in real life.
UK ETA required: US passport holders need an approved UK Electronic Travel Authorisation before travel, unless they already hold another qualifying UK immigration permission.
Cost: £20 per person through the official UK ETA app or GOV.UK, from 8 April 2026 (previously £16). Avoid third-party sites that add a surcharge.
Validity: 2 years, or until the passport used for the application expires, whichever comes first. Multiple visits, up to 6 months each, while it remains valid.
Everyone needs one: each traveller, including children and babies, needs their own ETA, linked to their own passport.
These indicators are taken from the entry checklist further down this page. Entry rules change, so check the official sources below before you book or travel. This is not immigration or legal advice.
Apply here, nowhere else
Use these official links directly. Do not search for an ETA application and click the first ad, that is how people land on copycat sites.
- Apply for a UK ETA on GOV.UK - official guidance and application route, £20. Apply through the UK ETA app or online via GOV.UK.
- Check if you need a UK visa or ETA on GOV.UK - official checker for visit, study, work, and other reasons. Use this first if you are unsure whether an ETA is enough, or whether you need a visa instead.
Figures are estimates, not quotes. This is not tax, legal, or immigration advice.
Scouting trip budget, fixed maths
Flights are per person, the room is shared, daily spending is per person. Trip total is for all travellers. Per person is trip total divided by travellers, with no extra flight added. All figures below are editable examples, not sourced flight or hotel prices.
Quick estimate first: start with trip length, travellers, flights, and stay. Open Refine for daily spending, buffer, and any entry fee.
Refine: show more inputs
ETA total is travellers multiplied by ETA cost in pounds, converted at the exchange rate, and added after the buffer. If your ETA is already valid for this trip, set ETA cost to 0.
Your result
Estimated trip total, all travellers, including ETA
Flight and hotel figures here are examples for maths checking only. Replace them with quotes you have actually received. ETA cost is the sourced figure on this page, £20, checked 24 October 2026.
Entry checklist, short visit
- UK ETA required: US passport holders need an approved UK Electronic Travel Authorisation before travel, unless they already hold another qualifying UK immigration permission.
- Cost: £20 per person through the official UK ETA app or GOV.UK, from 8 April 2026 (previously £16). Avoid third-party sites that add a surcharge.
- Validity: 2 years, or until the passport used for the application expires, whichever comes first. Multiple visits, up to 6 months each, while it remains valid.
- Everyone needs one: each traveller, including children and babies, needs their own ETA, linked to their own passport.
- Timing: allow up to 3 working days for a decision, even though many decisions are faster. Do not leave it to departure day.
- Airside transit: passengers transiting airside, without passing through UK border control, are treated differently from landside transit. If you pass through border control, the ETA rule applies. Verify your exact transit case on GOV.UK.
- Not a visa, not a guarantee: an ETA confirms advance permission to travel. A Border Force officer still makes the final entry decision on arrival.
- Not a move: a visitor ETA does not give work or residence permission. Work, study, or living in the UK needs a separate immigration route, with its own advice.
If you hold a British or Irish passport, or you already have UK visa or residence status, you generally do not need a separate ETA. Dual nationals should check the GOV.UK dual-national guidance before travel.
From scouting trip to move
A scouting trip answers questions a calculator cannot: which borough feels right, what the commute actually feels like, and whether London in winter, or in summer, is a place you want to live. If the trip goes well, the next step is the move page, not a longer visitor stay.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- UK ETA fee £20 from 8 April 2026, validity 2 years or passport expiry, up to 6 months per visit, per-person requirement, and up to 3 working days for decisions, from multiple 2026 summaries of GOV.UK and Home Office ETA material checked that day, including ABTA's UK ETA scheme summary updated 19 March 2026.
- Airside transit distinction and the rule that an ETA does not guarantee entry, from the same summaries. Verify the current GOV.UK position before travel, because transit exemptions have been described as temporary and under review.
ETA section now checked directly against the GOV.UK ETA guidance page on 24 October 2026, which confirms the £20 fee, the warning about other websites charging more and imitating government services, the non-refundable fee, no faster decision via another site, and the up to 3 working days decision window. Recheck GOV.UK again at the next update, because entry rules change.