Beginning next year, Americans who travel to the U.K. for any reason will now have to pay a fee and receive an online travel authorization before entering the country.

Starting on Jan. 8, travelers landing at an airport in the U.K. who have non-European passports will be required to have an Electronic Travel Authorization, or ETA, before their flight, according to The Washington Post.

Applications officially opened last week, and it costs about $12.50 to apply.

The ETA will be valid for two years after it is approved and is also good for multiple entries into the U.K. lasting up to six months.

This new program is a part of the U.K.’s effort make its borders fully digital by 2025, according to Travel + Leisure.

Who is required to get an ETA?

According to The Washington Post, after its initial launch in January, on April 2, 2025, the ETA program will expand to include all passports, including European ones.

Every traveler entering the U.K. is required to have their own ETA. This includes children of any age, according to Travel + Leisure.

The only ones exempt from the program are those with valid U.K. visas as well as citizens of the U.K. and Ireland.

One unique part of the U.K.’s new ETA program is that it requires fliers who just have a connecting flight in the country to receive authorization.

“Someone flying from, for example, Washington, D.C., to Mumbai has multiple connecting flight options, including Virgin via London. With the new ETA rules, they now have an extra digital hoop to jump through for their trip if they transit in London rather than Dubai or Frankfurt,” according to The Washington Post.

According to The Washington Post, the London Heathrow Airport lost around 90,000 connecting passengers during a pilot ETA program, which included six Middle Eastern countries.

How do you apply for an ETA?

Travelers can apply either online or on the UK ETA app, per The Washington Post.

Once the application has been submitted it could take up to 72 hours for the ETA to be processed.

After a traveler has received their authorization, it will digitally link to their passport.

To apply for the ETA, travelers have to upload a photo of their passport, answer a few questions, upload a photo of themselves and pay the application fee, according to Gov.UK.

Similar travel authorization programs coming to other countries

Europe has a plan to implement a program similar to ETA known as the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, sometime next year, according to Travel + Leisure.

The fee for the ETIAS will be around $7.71 and it will be required for all travelers from visa-exempt countries.

This includes travelers from the U.S. traveling to 30 different European countries, per Travel + Leisure.