UK ETA for Saudi citizens
Saudi nationals were among the very first travellers required to hold a UK ETA — the Gulf states entered the scheme ahead of Europe and North America. If you have visited the UK since then you may already hold one; if it was issued more than two years ago, or on a passport you have since replaced, it has expired.
UK ETA for Saudi Arabia — key facts
- Saudi citizens do need a UK ETA before travelling to the United Kingdom.
- An ETA is not a visa and does not guarantee entry — a Border Force officer makes the final decision on arrival.
Verified against GOV.UK on 2026-10-12. UK ETA Gateway is a private agency, not the UK Government.
What is different for Saudi travellers
The ETA requirement began applying to Saudi passport holders on 22 February 2024. Because an ETA lasts only 2 years, anyone who complied at the start has an authorisation that has already expired — this is the single most common reason a Saudi traveller is stopped at check-in believing they are covered.
The fee is set by the Home Office in pounds sterling, so you are charged £49 and your bank converts it from Saudi riyal (SAR) at its own rate. We do not add a currency markup, and nobody — including us — can discount the £20 government portion.
A note on your name: Arabic names are transliterated differently by different authorities. Copy the Latin-script spelling exactly as it is printed in the machine-readable zone of your Saudi passport — not the spelling on your ticket, your bank card, or an older passport.
Applying from Saudi Arabia
Saudi nationals entered the ETA scheme on 22 February 2024, in the first wave alongside the other Gulf states. Because an ETA lasts two years, the earliest Saudi authorisations expired in February 2026. If you travelled to London in 2024 and have not applied since, you are almost certainly travelling on an expired one.
The Saudi national ID does not substitute for a passport here, and the ETA binds to a specific passport number. Saudi passports are commonly renewed on a five-year cycle, so a renewal between trips is the usual reason an ETA quietly stops being valid.
Two Saudi travel patterns matter for timing. Summer travel to Britain runs heavily through July and August, and the Hajj and Eid periods shift family plans at short notice. An ETA cannot be rushed by paying more — not by us, not by anyone — so the only protection against a compressed timeline is applying before you book, rather than after.
Every member of the family needs their own, including infants, and each is tied to that person's own passport. A family of six is six applications and six official fees. We take the whole group on one form and check each passport against each traveller before anything is filed.
What Saudi travellers need
- A biometric Saudi passport that will still be valid when you travel
- A digital photo meeting the GOV.UK standard
- An email address and a payment card
- Truthful answers on criminal convictions and past immigration refusals
You do not need flight bookings, hotel reservations, bank statements or an invitation letter.
Every Saudi traveller needs their own ETA, including infants — there is no family application and no child discount. How ETAs work for children and families.
If you also hold British or Irish citizenship you cannot apply for an ETA at all — travel on that passport instead. Full requirements · Common questions.
Saudi Arabia at a glance
- ETA requiredYes
- Official Home Office fee£20
- Our service fee£29
- Total through us£49
- Validity2 years or passport expiry
- Maximum stay per visit6 months
- Typical decisionMinutes; allow 3 working days
- Number of entriesUnlimited
Or apply yourself at gov.uk/eta for £20.