UK ETA vs Standard Visitor Visa: Which Do You Need?

Most short-stay tourists need a UK ETA, not a Standard Visitor visa. The ETA costs £20, lasts two years and allows stays of up to six months per trip. The visa costs £135, suits people who cannot use the ETA or who need something the ETA does not cover, and involves far more paperwork. Pick the wrong one and you either overpay or get turned away at the border. The comparison below puts the two side by side so you can choose in a couple of minutes.

Resumo: If your nationality qualifies for visa-free travel, apply for the £20 ETA DO REINO UNIDO. It clears most applicants within minutes and lasts two years. Choose the £135 Standard Visitor visa only if you need a visa, plan a longer or special-purpose trip, or the Home Office asks for one.

What a UK ETA and a Standard Visitor visa actually are

A UK ETA is a digital travel permission linked to your passport, built for visa-free nationalities making short trips. A Standard Visitor visa is a full entry clearance, decided before you travel, for people who need a visa or plan activities the ETA does not allow. Both let you visit Britain, but they differ sharply in price, waiting time and paperwork.

The ETA launched as a light-touch screen. You answer a handful of questions, upload a passport photo, pay £20 and usually hear back the same day. The scheme became mandatory for most visa-free travellers during 2025 and 2026, so an EU citizen flying in from Rome now needs one before boarding. Check the official Ficha de informação ETA do Ministério do Interior if you want the government wording.

The Standard Visitor visa is the older, heavier route. Applicants book biometrics, submit documents and wait weeks. Our guia de visto Standard Visitor passo a passo walks through that process. Not sure whether you even qualify for the cheaper option? Start with quem precisa de uma ETA do Reino Unido.

The ETA needs a biometric passport, the chipped kind with a symbol on the cover. Older travel documents without that chip will not work, and the applicant must use the exact passport they fly on. If those don’t match, the airline can refuse boarding even with an approval showing on screen. Visa applicants give their biometrics at a visa centre instead, so the two systems capture your details in completely different ways.

UK ETA vs Standard Visitor visa: cost, stay and rules compared

Side by side, the ETA wins on price and speed for anyone eligible: £20 against £135, minutes against weeks. The visa wins on flexibility. It admits nationalities that cannot use the ETA and stretches to long-term versions valid for two, five or ten years. Your nationality and trip purpose decide which column applies to you.

Both caps sit at six months. Neither lets you work for a UK employer, claim public funds or move in for good. The ETA price has risen to £20 in 2026, up from £16; our Explicador da taxa UK ETA de £20 e o mais amplo UK ETA cost guide break down what changed. The £135 visa figure comes straight from gov.uk.

Who still needs the visa route

You need a Standard Visitor visa if your passport is from a country that the UK treats as a visa nationality, if your trip runs beyond six months, or if you want a multi-year visitor visa for repeat business or family trips. Marrying in Britain, some medical stays and certain academic visits also require a visa rather than an ETA.

Say a grandmother from India wants to see her family in Leicester twice a year. She cannot use the ETA, so she applies for a two-year Standard Visitor visa and skips reapplying every trip. A Canadian tourist doing a fortnight in Scotland takes the opposite path: a quick ETA covers the whole thing. Dual nationals get a further wrinkle, covered in our which-passport guide.

Longer stays shift the maths as well. A retiree planning seven months across Britain cannot lean on either short-stay route and needs a long-term visit visa or a different category. Marriage draws the sharpest line of all. Attend a wedding as a visitor, fine. Marry in Britain, and you need a Marriage Visitor visa, never an ETA. Settlement, long study courses and paid work each have their own visa too, so match the category to the plan before you pay a penny.

Dica profissional: Book the visa first if you need one. ETA decisions land fast, but a Standard Visitor visa can take three weeks, and a peak-season backlog is a classic reason people miss flights.

How to work out which one you need

Run three checks in order: nationality, then trip length, then purpose. If you are visa-free, staying under six months and just visiting, the ETA is almost certainly your answer. Any “no” at those gates points you to the Standard Visitor visa. Two minutes here saves a wasted application fee.

1. Check your nationality. Confirm whether your passport is visa-free on gov.uk/eta. Visa nationals go straight to a Standard Visitor visa application.
2. Check your dates. Under six months and eligible? The ETA fits. Longer, and you need the visa.
3. Check your purpose. Tourism, family, short business meetings and study under six months suit both. Work, settlement or marriage rule the ETA out.

Still unsure after those steps? The Home Office keeps a plain-English tool on its ETA guidance page, e nosso ETA application questions explainer answers the fiddly form fields.

Before you apply: practical tips

Whichever route fits, get your passport, timing and photo sorted first. An ETA is tied to one passport, so renewing that passport later means a fresh application. A visa application needs documents and a biometrics appointment. A few checks now prevent the common mistakes that lead to a refusal or a re-apply.

• Match the passport you will travel on. The ETA links to that document; see ETA validity and passport changes.
• Candidatar-se cedo. ETA decisions are quick, but not instant. Read the real Tempos de processamento ETA before you cut it fine.
• Bringing kids? Every child needs their own ETA or visa. Our families and children guide covers who applies for a minor.
• Combining Europe? A UK trip plus Schengen means two systems; compare them in the ETA vs EU ETIAS guide.

Prefer not to wrestle with the form yourself? You can apply directly on gov.uk for £20, or let our team check your answers and handle the submission for you — handy for older travellers who would rather someone double-checked the details. If a decision goes the wrong way, our refused ETA guide explains the next move.

Visa ETA UK is an independent assistance service. We are not the UK government, and you can always apply yourself through the official channels above.

Perguntas mais frequentes

Is a UK ETA the same as a Standard Visitor visa?

No. The ETA is a £20 digital permission for visa-free nationalities, decided in minutes. The Standard Visitor visa is a £135 clearance for visa nationals and special cases, and it takes weeks and biometrics.

Quanto custa cada opção em 2026?

The UK ETA costs £20 per person from 8 April 2026. A Standard Visitor visa costs £135 for up to six months, with pricier two, five and ten-year versions for frequent visitors.

Can I work in the UK on either one?

No paid work for a UK employer is allowed on either route. Both permit tourism, family visits, short study and limited business meetings. Taking a job means a different, work-based visa.

UK ETA vs Standard Visitor visa: which is faster to get?

The ETA, by a wide margin. Many applicants get a decision within minutes, and the Home Office allows up to three working days. A Standard Visitor visa usually takes around three weeks.

How long can I stay on each?

Both cap a single visit at six months. The ETA then stays valid for two years of repeat trips, while a standard six-month visa is used up once its window closes.

What happens if I apply for the wrong one?

You lose the fee, since neither is refundable, and you must apply again for the correct route. Checking nationality and trip length first avoids that costly detour.

Do children need an ETA or a visa too?

Yes. Every traveller needs their own authorisation, whatever their age. A parent can complete a child’s ETA, and babies still need one before they fly to the UK.

Sobre o autor. Eleanor Winslade is a travel documentation editor who has covered UK entry requirements since 2017. She specialises in plain-English, step-by-step guidance and has walked thousands of readers, from first-time applicants to grandparents planning family visits, through the UK ETA form.

Last updated: 2026-08-24 — verified against gov.uk schedule.