New Rules

In the before times, and living in a blissful bubble of European citizenship, I never thought a lot about what I would need to prepare when visiting the UK. But, starting February 2026, new immigration rules for the UK are being enforced. Citizens of 85 additional countries (including the USA and European countries) will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to visit, even for tourism.¹

Luckily, you can apply (and pay) digitally. Unfortunately, the government very much would prefer you to do so using the official app.

How Many Hoops Are Too Many Hoops?

Digital sovereignty is a hot topic right now in a lot of European countries (for good reasons). Both the Google Play Store and the Apple Store are controlled by US companies. And surely, I should not need to have access to a smartphone in order to complete a required government process?

Helpfully, the UK ETA app is not linked from the ETA enforcement announcement. But, if you search for it, you can find a help page on “Using the ‘UK ETA’ app”² that looks like this:

Can you spot where you would find alternatives to using the app on this page? Of course, under ‘If you need help using the app’. First, you are smart and can see that I already clicked the link before taking the screenshot. But second, technically not being able to use the app would fall under needing help on how to use it. I guess? Fair enough.

There, you can find a link to “apply online instead”. Our journey is at an end; we can use the open web to complete the ETA! Let’s click the link:

No, weird, this is not it. It seems we landed on the app landing page (why was this not linked from the announcement post?). My mistake, let’s try something else. No, wait, there is a tiny ‘I cannot apply on the UK ETA app.’ link at the bottom! Finally, exactly my problem. And all it took was finding a tiny link on that page. Let’s resolve this by clicking on the link:

Another page about how to install the app and troubleshoot why you can’t install the app? And how much better and faster and less problematic my application will be if I use the app?

Ok, at this point you’re joking me. If I were a weird nerd that cares an abnormal amount about digital sovereignty, this would probably push me over the edge to write a ranty blog post about my experience. Luckily I am a well-adjusted person and instead scan the page carefully and find the tiny ‘Continue application online’ link instead.

Finally, we have reached the entry point of the online application for a UK ETA. In the end, this was quite easy; all we had to do was click through multiple pages of strong guidance to use the official app and accept that the online application will be much worse and slower.

And for future Philip, who still wants to visit the UK, here is the direct link so you do not need to repeat this: Request a UK ETA Online. You better hope the UK government hasn’t implemented automated scans of your web profile by then ;).

I am an indie maker & researcher with a doctorate in computer science,
interested in (among others): Software engineering, open data, data science,
startups and esports.