UK ETA en Settled Status 2026: Heb je er een nodig?

If you hold settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you do not need a UK ETA. Your existing UK immigration status lets you enter; an ETA is only for visa-free visitors without such status. You travel on the passport linked to your status and, if asked, prove it online (GOV.UK view and prove your status).

TL;DR: With settled status, you skip the £20 ETA entirely. The authorisation is meant for tourists and short-stay visitors, not residents. Use the passport you gave to the EU Settlement Scheme, keep your online status account current, and carry your share code in case a carrier asks for it. EU citizens without settled status do still need an ETA.

Do settled status holders need a UK ETA?

No. Anyone with settled or pre-settled status already holds permission to be in the UK, so the ETA scheme does not apply to them. The authorisation exists to pre-screen visitors who would otherwise arrive with no status at all; a resident is in a completely different category.

This trips people up because both groups are often EU citizens. What decides it is whether you hold UK immigration status, whatever your nationality. A Spanish national granted settled status in 2021 travels as a resident returning home; a Spanish tourist with no status is a visitor who needs the £20 permit. The scope of the scheme is set out on GOV.UK eligibility, and the background to the resident route is on the EU Settlement Scheme page.

Key facts for status holders

• No ETA needed: settled and pre-settled status both count as UK status.
• No £20 fee: the visitor charge does not apply to you.
• Travel document: use the passport linked to your status.
• Proof: a share code from the online status service.
• Contrast: EU visitors without status do need an ETA.

How to prove your status instead of an ETA

You prove settled status digitally, through the GOV.UK “view and prove your immigration status” service, which generates a share code carriers and Border Force can check. There is no physical card for most people, so the online account is your document.

Keep it working smoothly with a short routine before every trip:

1. Sign in to your status account. Start at GOV.UK, not a lookalike page.
2. Check the linked passport. It must be the document you will actually travel on.
3. Generate a share code if needed. Some carriers ask for one at check-in.
4. Update details after a passport renewal. A new passport should be added to your account.

The mechanics resemble the border check any traveller faces, described in our guide for EU citizens. The difference is what the system finds: a resident’s status rather than a visitor’s ETA. Both satisfy the carrier’s “yes or no” query, just through different records.

One habit saves a lot of grief: generate the share code fresh rather than reusing an old one. Share codes expire, and a lapsed code at a busy check-in desk feels uncomfortably like having no proof at all. It takes under a minute on a phone. Keep a note of your account recovery details too, because the one time you cannot log in is invariably the morning of an early flight. None of this costs a penny, which is the quiet advantage residents have over visitors — no £20 charge, no application window, just an online record that already exists and only needs keeping tidy.

Pro tip: add your renewed passport to your status account voor you book, not after. If you book under a passport your account does not recognise, it can read as “no status” at the gate. Visitors hit the same problem when they let an ETA lapse.

Pre-settled status: the same answer, with one eye on expiry

Pre-settled status holders also skip the ETA, but they should watch their status expiry date, because letting it lapse changes their category entirely. While the status is valid, you are a resident and the visitor scheme is irrelevant to you.

A common mistake: a Polish worker whose pre-settled status is due to expire lets it run out while abroad, then tries to return as though nothing has changed. With neither valid status nor an ETA, the journey stalls. To avoid this, maintain your status through the EU Settlement Scheme in good time. If you ever move from status-holder to visitor, the rules flip and the £20 permit becomes relevant again. Our gids landvereisten covers the visitor side.

Helping an older family member who is unsure whether their status still covers them? You can check the government status service for free, and if they turn out to need a visitor permit instead, our team can prepare that £20 application with them.

Family members and dual nationals

Family members with their own settled status do not need an ETA either, while a dual national must decide which passport (and therefore which route) to travel on. Each person is assessed on their own status, not on the family as a whole.

Take a mixed household: one parent has settled status, the other is a visiting relative from Canada, and the children hold status through the scheme. The parent and children travel as residents; the Canadian relative needs an ETA. Dual nationals add another wrinkle, because the passport they present decides how they are treated — our dual nationality rules guide explains the choice, and the Reisgids voor Ierland covers Common Travel Area cases. When someone in the party does need the permit, budgeting is easy: the kostengids, de fee-rise breakdown en de kostengids voor kinderen confirm the flat £20 per applicant.

What to do if you are unsure

If you cannot tell whether you hold valid UK status, check the government tools before you assume you need an ETA. Applying for one you do not need wastes £20 and adds confusion. The two questions to settle are whether your status is current and which passport is linked to it.

Start with the status service to confirm your position, and use the visum- en UK ETA-checker if you are still unsure. Should you turn out to be a visitor after all, the statuscontrole-gids shows how to confirm an ETA once granted. The border itself remains the final checkpoint for everyone, resident or visitor, at UK grenscontrole.

It also helps to know how the visitor route works, so you can spot the moment your circumstances shift you into it. A visitor permit lasts two years and covers unlimited trips, as our validity and renewals guide en multiple entries guide explain, and it is valid the length and breadth of the country, from Cornwall to the Highlands, as confirmed in our Scotland and Wales validity guide. Residents rarely need any of this — but knowing it means you are never caught out if your status ends and the visitor rules suddenly apply to you.

Disclaimer: we are an independent assistance service, not the UK government. Settled status checks are free on gov.uk; if you do need a visitor ETA, you can apply directly for £20 or ask us to review the form.

Veelgestelde vragen

Do I need a UK ETA if I have settled status?

No. Settled status is UK immigration status, so the visitor ETA scheme does not apply. You travel as a resident on your linked passport.

What about pre-settled status?

Same answer — no ETA needed while the status is valid. Watch the expiry date, because losing the status changes your category.

How do I prove my status at the airport?

Through the online view and prove your status service, which gives a share code. Most people have no physical card.

My status is linked to an old passport — what now?

Add your new passport to your status account before travelling. A mismatch between booking and account can read as no status at check-in.

Do EU citizens without settled status need an ETA?

Yes. Visa-free EU nationals who are not residents need the ETA (currently £20, since 8 April 2026), mandatory since 2 April 2025 per the Home Office feitenblad.

Do my children with status need an ETA?

No, if they hold their own settled or pre-settled status. Each person is assessed individually on their own status.

Ik heb per ongeluk een ETA aangevraagd, maar ik heb status — is dat een probleem?

Het is niet schadelijk, maar het is niet nodig en de £20 is niet terugvorderbaar. Reis met uw status; de overschot vergunning blijft eenvoudig ongebruikt.

Over de auteur. Eleanor Winslade is een Senior Travel Documentation Editor die sinds 2017 de toelatingsvereisten van het VK volgt. Ze schrijft duidelijke, stapsgewijze richtlijnen en controleert elk artikel aan de hand van de meest recente officiële GOV.UK-informatie.

Laatst bijgewerkt: 2026-07-20 — geverifieerd aan de hand van het gov.uk-schema.