From 2 April 2025, it will be compulsory to apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) when travelling to the UK as a Belgian. Scammers are taking advantage of this new obligation to trick travellers through fake websites. Those websites appear reliable and professional, but charge way too much for an application - sometimes up to €100 - while an official application through the UK government costs just £16 (about €18).
What is going on?
When you search for "ETA UK" via a search engine such as Google, sponsored search results from unofficial websites appear at the top. These websites ask for the same details as the official site, but:
- charge unnecessarily high application fees;
- offer no real added value or service;
- are actually fraudulent in some cases and do not produce a valid ETA.
Note: not every website is reliable
Some travellers did get their ETA through such a website, but paid more than necessary. Other websites turn out to be pure scams: you pay, but never get a valid permit. These rogue websites also try to collect personal data.
How do you recognise a reliable application?
- Apply for your ETA only through the UK government's official website or app: gov.uk.
- Are you paying more than £16? Then chances are you have stumbled onto a middleman or scammer.
- Websites offering an "urgent procedure" are suspect - the UK government does not offer this service.
What can you do?
- Always read FPS Foreign Affairs' travel advice.
- Apply for your ETA on time, this will give you time to go through the application calmly.
- Always check that you are on the official website: https://www.gov.uk/.
- Report suspicious websites to the FPS Economy, via the UK government hotline or report to Google via the three dots (⁝) next to questionable ads
