UK ETA for Emirati citizens
Emirati 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 United Arab Emirates — key facts
- Emirati 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 Emirati travellers
The ETA requirement began applying to Emirati 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 an Emirati 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 UAE dirham (AED) 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 Emirati passport — not the spelling on your ticket, your bank card, or an older passport.
Applying from United Arab Emirates
The UAE was in the first group of nationalities brought into the scheme, on 22 February 2024. An ETA runs for two years, so an Emirati resident who did the right thing and applied that February has been holding an expired authorisation since February 2026. Nothing warns you — there is no reminder email, and the old approval still sits in your inbox looking valid.
A UAE national identity card is not accepted for this. The ETA attaches to a passport, and it is the passport you must travel on. If you hold both an Emirates ID and a passport that was renewed in the meantime, the ETA follows the passport number, not you.
Emirati families tend to travel to Britain in July and August, when Dubai and Abu Dhabi are at their hottest and UK schools are on holiday. That is also when Home Office volumes peak. Most decisions still arrive in minutes, but three working days is the figure the Home Office asks you to allow, and August is the month to take that seriously.
We handle the whole application in Arabic if you prefer. The suitability questions — the ones about criminal records and previous refusals — are written in legal English, and those are the answers that cause trouble when they are guessed at rather than understood.
What Emirati travellers need
- A biometric Emirati 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 Emirati 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.
United Arab Emirates 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.