UK Names Only 2 African Countries Whose Citizens Can Enter Britain With ETA Instead of Visa
- The UK government released details of which African nationals qualify to use an Electronic Travel Authorisation instead of a full visa to enter the country
- Only two African countries made the list, placing them in rare company among nations granted this streamlined entry option
- Citizens from the rest of the African continent must continue applying through traditional visa channels to enter the UK
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The United Kingdom has named just two African countries whose citizens are eligible to use an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the country, bypassing the traditional visa application process.
Of the 54 nations on the African continent, only Mauritius and Seychelles made the list.
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African countries eligible for UK ETA
Citizens with passports from either of these two island nations can apply for an ETA rather than go through the longer and typically more expensive visa route.
An Electronic Travel Authorisation is a pre-travel permission linked digitally to a traveller's passport. It is designed for nationals of countries that do not require a visa to enter the UK but still need prior authorisation before travelling.
What the UK ETA means for eligible travellers
The process is completed online and is generally faster and more straightforward than a standard visa application.
- Mauritians
- Seychellois
For Mauritians and Seychellois, this represents a significant advantage over their counterparts across the rest of Africa. Citizens from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt are not included on the ETA eligibility list, meaning they must continue to apply for a UK visa through the conventional process, which involves submitting documents, paying higher fees, and in many cases attending in-person appointments.
The inclusion of Mauritius and Seychelles reflects the existing visa-free or visa-on-arrival relationships these two nations already maintained with the UK, with the ETA serving as the updated framework under which that access is now managed.
eTA: Canada lists countries whose citizens qualify
Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that Canada released the full list of 17 countries whose citizens can apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization instead of a regular visa when flying to the country.
Morocco and Seychelles are the two African countries on the list, while Indonesia and Malaysia have been newly added to the eTA programme.
Source: Legit.ng
