Applying for a UK ETA on Behalf of Someone Else (2026)

You can apply for a UK ETA on behalf of someone else, and thousands of people do it every day. A parent applies for a child, an adult child for an elderly parent, a PA for a travelling executive. Each traveller still needs their own £20 authorisation linked to their own passport — you are simply the person filling in the form and paying.

TL;DR: Applying for another traveller is allowed. You need their passport, a compliant photo and their honest answers to the eligibility questions. The fee is £20 per person, the permit lasts two years, and each traveller receives a separate approval tied to the passport used on the form.

This guide covers who can apply for whom, exactly what details you need, the risks of getting an answer wrong, and how to handle groups. For the standard route, start with our step-by-step online application guide.

Can you apply for a UK ETA on behalf of someone else?

Yes. The Home Office lets one person complete and pay for another person’s application, and the official app supports several travellers in a single session. There is no legal requirement for the traveller to press the buttons themselves. What matters is that the information is accurate and the answers are theirs.

Think about a common case. A daughter in London applies for her 78-year-old father in Lagos who has never used the app. She has his passport photo, his document scan and his answers by phone. That is entirely within the rules, set out in the Home Office application guidance.

Two limits are worth stating plainly. First, each person submits their own form — no single household form exists. Second, the eligibility answers must be the traveller’s own truthful responses. Guessing on their behalf is where problems start. Check the eligibility criteria before you begin.

What you need before you start

Gather everything in one place first. A rushed application with a missing detail is the usual cause of a rejected photo or a wrong passport number. For each person you are applying for, you need the items below.

1. Their passport. The physical document, or a clear scan of the photo page, so you can read the chip or type the number exactly.
2. A compliant photo. Taken against a plain wall, no glare. Our photo requirements guide shows what the system accepts first time.
3. Their honest answers. Any past UK refusal, any criminal record. Ask them directly; do not assume.
4. Contact details. An email for the approval. It can be yours, but keep each person’s reference clearly labelled.
5. A payment card. One card can pay for several people. Each application still costs £20.

Applying for a child is the most frequent version of this. Our guide for children and babies explains the parental-consent points and why a newborn needs their own ETA. The fees and costs breakdown covers card charges when you pay for a group.

Pro tip: Use a different email alias for each traveller, or label them the moment approval lands. When you apply for five relatives at once, five near-identical confirmation emails arrive within minutes, and mixing up whose is whose causes real confusion at check-in.

Would you rather hand the whole job over? We complete and check each application for you, then return every approval clearly labelled — useful when an older relative cannot manage the app.

Applying for a group or family

The official app allows you to add several travellers before you pay, which suits families and small tour groups. You still submit a distinct application per person, and each is assessed on its own. Booking together does not create one shared permit.

Here is a real scenario. A tour organiser handles ETAs for a party of eight visiting Edinburgh. Seven approvals come back within the hour; one is held for manual review because of a past refusal the traveller had forgotten to mention. The lesson is simple — apply early, and never answer the eligibility questions on someone’s behalf without asking them first.

For business trips, a PA or travel manager can apply for staff. The permit still only covers permitted activities, so read our business-travel rules for what an ETA does and does not allow. If a colleague’s document is close to expiry, check our note on passport validity for UK entry before you book.

Risks, mistakes and refusals when applying for others

The biggest risk is answering an eligibility question wrong on someone’s behalf. A false answer, even an innocent one, can lead to a refusal or later problems at the border. Always relay the traveller’s own answers, word for word.

Watch for these slips, which come up again and again when one person applies for many.

• Wrong passport number. Copy each number straight from the document and read it back. One transposed digit ties the ETA to nobody.
• Reusing one photo. Each traveller needs their own face. It sounds obvious, yet copy-paste errors happen in a hurry.
• Assuming an old ETA still works. If a relative renewed their passport, the previous permit is dead. They need a fresh one.
• Applying at the last minute. Most decisions are quick, but a review can take up to three working days. Track progress with our status-check walkthrough.

If an application you submitted is knocked back, our refusal next-steps guide explains the options — usually a corrected re-application or a standard visitor visa. Processing timings for both are covered in our processing-times guide, and the £20 fee explainer confirms the current price for each person.

We are an independent assistance service, not a government body. You can apply directly on gov.uk for £20 per traveller, or use our checking and support service if you would prefer help handling several people at once. The rollout scope is confirmed in the April 2026 ETA factsheet.

After approval: storing and sharing each permit

The approval is digital. Nothing is stamped in the passport — the authorisation is linked electronically to the document number, and border systems read it automatically at the e-gates. So there is no sticker to post and no card to hand over.

That changes what you do once each decision lands. Send every traveller a copy of their own confirmation email, with the reference and the passport it belongs to. A brother in Toronto who applied for his parents in Manila should forward each parent their own message, not one shared thread. If a phone is lost before the trip, the permit survives, because it lives with the passport rather than the device.

Keep a simple record too. A short note of who was approved, on which passport, and on what date saves a scramble at the airport. When you have handled six people in an afternoon, that one-line list is worth more than it looks. For the traveller’s own reference, our status-check walkthrough shows how anyone can confirm their approval later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I allowed to complete a UK ETA for another person?

Yes. You may complete and pay for another person’s ETA, whether family, friend or colleague. Each traveller still submits a distinct form, tied to their passport, and the answers must be theirs.

How many travellers can I include at once?

The official app lets you add several travellers before paying, so a family or small group can be handled in one session. Every person gets a distinct application and a separate approval.

Do I still pay £20 for each person?

Yes. The fee is £20 per traveller, whoever fills in the form. One payment card can cover several applications, but no group discount applies.

Whose email should I use when applying for others?

You can use your own email for every approval, but label each one clearly. When you apply for several people, the confirmation emails look almost identical, so keep track of whose reference is whose.

Can I answer the eligibility questions for another traveller?

Only by relaying their own honest answers. Never guess. A wrong answer about a past refusal or criminal record can cause a refusal or trouble at the UK border.

Can a parent apply for a child’s UK ETA?

Yes, and it is the most common case. Every child, including a baby, must hold a £20 ETA of their own. A parent completes and pays for it.

Can an employer or PA apply for staff travelling on business?

Yes. A travel manager or PA can apply for colleagues. The ETA still only covers permitted business activities, so check what is and is not allowed before travel.

What if an application I submitted for someone is refused?

Review the reason, correct any error and reapply, or consider a standard visitor visa. Our refusal guide sets out the next steps, and most corrected applications succeed.

Written by Eleanor Winslade, Senior Travel Documentation Editor. She has covered UK entry requirements since 2017 and checks every guide against the latest GOV.UK guidance. Updated: 2026-08-10.