The UK Home Office’s annual “How many people come to the UK each year?” bulletin, released on 21 May 2026, provides the first full-year data on the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) programme that replaced visa-free entry for short-stay EU visitors. Of the 25.1 million ETAs issued in the year ending March 2026, French citizens received 2.3 million—trailing only U.S. and German nationals. For French business travellers the figures confirm that the ETA has become a routine pre-departure formality, but also highlight the volume at stake: any system outage or policy change could instantly disrupt hundreds of thousands of cross-Channel trips. The ETA is mandatory for stays of up to six months for tourism, meetings or short-term study and costs £16 per applicant. Applications are made via a smartphone app that captures a live facial biometric and returns a decision within hours, although the Home Office warns of longer processing for individuals with adverse immigration history. Companies operating commuter shuttles between Paris and London report that employees now add the app download to their standard travel checklist alongside Eurostar tickets. Nevertheless, mobility teams must track ETA expiry—each authorisation is valid for two years or until the passport expires—and maintain a central register to avoid last-minute airport refusals. French nationals posted to the UK for longer assignments still require a visa; the ETA cannot be converted in-country. From a policy perspective, the uptake underscores how digital pre-clearance is reshaping European business travel. France will roll out its own ETIAS system for visa-exempt visitors in late 2026; the Home Office data set offers a glimpse of the likely scale and operational challenges Paris can expect. Carriers should prepare for parallel systems whereby French passengers travelling outbound need an ETA for the UK and, on return, non-EU colleagues may need ETIAS for the Schengen Area. Seamless API integration and clear staff training will be critical to avoid boarding-gate confusion.
Source: UK Home Office (GOV.UK)
