Will French children of British citizens need ETA to enter the UK?
All non-British and non-Irish citizens entering the UK will soon need either a visa or an Electronic Travel Authorisation
Children can hold two passports at a time, if their citizenship allows it
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Reader Question: I am British, and with my French wife have four children all under the age of 18, born in France and with only French passports. Are they exempt from ETA rules?
The number of people affected by the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) greatly expanded in January to include all citizens with visa-free access, except EU citizens.
EU citizens (with the exception of Irish citizens) will need an ETA from April 2, 2025 if they are visiting the UK, as opposed to having their main residency there.
Non-UK citizens with British visas or other forms of entitlement to live and/or work or study in the UK are not concerned. This includes EU citizens with ‘settled status’ under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
Non-British children visiting the UK are not exempt from needing an ETA.
The process consists of an online application for permission to enter the UK, and it can be completed on a website or app.
Once approved, the permission is automatically linked to the person’s passport, so no document or app has to be shown at the border.
However, please note that an ETA is not required to simply transit through the UK if you will not pass through border control.
Read more: No ETA permit needed for Americans and others only transiting in UK
Read more: New UK travel permit rules: how are travellers from France affected?
Children’s citizenship through passport
In most cases if you are British and living abroad you automatically pass your citizenship rights to your children, including those born outside of the UK.
However, to obtain proof of this you still need to apply for the child’s British passport – you can read more about how to do this below.
Read more: Can my children have a British passport if born in France?
There are less common situations where British citizenship is not passed on ‘automatically’ to children, but it is possible to apply to ‘register’ the child as British, at a fee of £1,214.
This includes, for example, where the British adult was not British themselves when the child was born; or where the adult was themselves born to British parents living outside the UK.
Once a child is registered as British, however, you would still need to apply for a passport for them, for ETA exemption.
There is also a process whereby, under certain conditions, it is possible to apply for a certificate of the right of abode in the UK, which can be placed in a child’s foreign passport.
This requires supporting documents such as the child’s and parents’ birth certificates and the parents’ marriage certificate, and costs £550.
The UK says proof of ‘right of abode’ exempts people from ETA, similarly to showing a UK passport.
In view of the additional costs involved, applying for the children’s first British passports would likely be the best solution if the family situation allows for this.
To enter the UK, everyone, whether British or non-British, usually needs a valid passport, though an exemption exists for school trips when EU identity cards may be used if preferred.
Dual nationals can choose to use the passport which is more convenient to them when entering or leaving the UK or France.
Read more: Is it possible to use different passports to enter and leave France and the UK?
