Hongkongers will need electronic authorisation to travel to, or transit through, UK from Wed
Hong Kong Free Press
Hongkongers who plan to visit or transit through the UK will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from Wednesday.
Passport holders from 54 countries and territories – including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan – will require an ETA to enter the UK from Wednesday. Hongkongers with British National (Overseas) passports will also need an ETA, as will babies and children.
Transit passengers are required to have a valid ETA, even if they do not intend to pass through UK border control.
According to the UK government website, it takes around three working days from applying for the ETA for a decision to be reached: “You must apply for an ETA before you travel to the UK. You can travel to the UK while waiting for a decision,” it said.
With an ETA, a traveller can spend up to six months in the UK “for tourism, visiting family and friends, business or short-term study.” It also allows holder to stay in the UK for up to three months on the Creative Worker visa concession and to visit for a “permitted paid engagement.”
Each ETA lasts for two years and allows multiple entries to the UK within that period.
In an X post on Tuesday, Hong Kong-based Channel News Asia correspondent Wei Du shared a screenshot that appeared to show a rejected ETA application, which read: “You cannot apply for an ETA using a passport from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.”
It continued: “If you have another nationality, enter that one instead.”
HKFP has reached out to the British Consulate-General for comment.
The UK ETA precedes similar arrangements that will come into effect later this year for travellers from 59 countries and territories – Hong Kong among them – to the EU.
After Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, the UK government launched a new path to citizenship for holders of Hong Kong British National (Overseas) passports. As of last September, 158,000 Hongkongers had arrived in the UK via this route, according to UK Home Office statistics.
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