UK scraps visa-free travel for Jordanians due to 'abuse' of system

ETA allows travellers to make unlimited visits to Britain over two years, or until the holder’s passport expires

Newly-arrived airline passengers queue at the UK Border Agency's passport control desks. Getty Images

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The UK has scrapped a visa-free travel scheme for Jordanian visitors due to breaches of visitor rules.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Electronic Travel Authorisation system, which allows visitors to enter the UK multiple times over a two-year period for a fee of £10, would no longer be available to Jordanian nationals due to the misuse of the procedure, namely an increase in asylum claims at the border.

The scheme was launched in October last year, and initially only applied to Qatar, but was opened up to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in February.

Middle Eastern states were chosen to pilot the scheme because they represent the highest number of returning tourists, with tracking data showing that three quarters of all holiday visitors from the UAE make repeat visits to Britain.

But on Tuesday it was announced that Jordanians are no longer able to access the system, which is being expanded to other nationalities from November.

Tourists in London. The Electronic Travel Authorisation system will be expanded for all other nationals, except Europeans, in November. EPA

Why has the scheme been scrapped for Jordanian nationals?

Authorities said they registered an increase in the number of Jordanians travelling to the UK to claim asylum, with refusals at the border rocketing from 22 in the first quarter of this year to 463 in the three months to June.

The number of asylum claims made by Jordanian nationals also rose steeply, from 17 in the final quarter of 2023 to 77 in the first quarter of 2024, and 261 in the three months to June.

In addition, there has been an increase in Jordanian nationals using an ETA to transit through the UK and subsequently claim asylum in Ireland, the UK government said.

“We are taking this action due to an increase in the number of Jordanian nationals travelling to the UK for purposes other than what is permitted under visitor rules since the visa requirement was lifted in February 2024,” Ms Cooper told the House of Commons.

“This has included a significant and sustained increase in asylum claims, and high rates of refusals at the border due to people travelling without the intention of visiting for a permitted purpose.”

This has “added significantly to operational pressures at the border”, Ms Cooper wrote.

She added that the decision to introduce a visa requirement was taken “solely for migration and border security reasons”, and the UK's relationship with Jordan “remains a strong and friendly one”.

A four-week transition period has been introduced for travellers who already hold an ETA and have confirmed trips. But any bookings arranged after 3pm on October 8 will require a visa instead.

Tourists take photos and visit Buckingham Palace in London. AP

A manager at one of Jordan’s largest travel agencies told The National the electronic visa had spurred significant demand for travel to Britain – and abuse of the system, which coincided with new flights by state-owned Royal Jordanian to Stansted and Manchester in March.

“Demand rose but the visa was widely abused,” said the manager, who did not want to be named. “Many Jordanians obtained it relatively easily and simply stayed in Britain.”

Louise Haycock, a partner at immigration lawyers Fragomen, in London, told The National the new UK government has been clear about its tough stance on immigration and compliance, and “Jordanians are the first nation to experience the government use of the operation of ETA to identify those nations who should be subject to greater scrutiny”.

She added: “The government’s monitoring of ETA use is expected to continue, with similar consequences where non-compliance is identified.”

Who will the ETA scheme be expanded to in November?

The ETA scheme will be expanded for all other nationals, except Europeans, in November and be required for entry from January 8, 2025.

The programme will be extended to European nationals in March 2025, and be a travel requirement for them from April 2, 2025.

Ms Cooper wrote: “Once fully rolled out, the ETA scheme will close the current gap in advance permissions and mean that for the first time, we will have a comprehensive understanding of those travelling to the UK.”

Other changes include the introduction of a VIP Delegate Visa for state and ministerial delegations and a Diplomatic Visa. Bereaved partners of Gurkhas and Hong Kong military unit veterans discharged before July 1, 1997 can also benefit from a fee waiver if they are destitute.

What is the ETA?

ETAs are digitally linked to a traveller's passport.

The scheme is cheaper, faster and easier to apply for than the long-standing Electronic Visa Waiver, which allowed visitors from the Gulf to stay in Britain for up to six months for tourism, business, study or medical treatment.

Under the system, travellers can make unlimited visits to Britain over two years, or until the holder’s passport expires, whichever comes first.

Has it been a success so far?

Not universally, no. Heathrow airport recently blamed the ETA scheme for a 90,000-drop in transfer passenger numbers on routes included in the system since it was launched.

It described the programme as “devastating for our hub competitiveness” and urged the government to review the inclusion of airside transit passengers.

Heathrow bosses pointed to a decline in the number of Qatari transfer travellers, with 19,000 fewer transit passengers travelling from the Gulf state to Heathrow in its first four months of operation.

What does the UK government say?

The government argues the ETA scheme enhances British border security by increasing officials’ knowledge about those looking to visit the UK and preventing the arrival of those who pose a threat. It says the robust security checks help prevent “abuse of our immigration system”.

Decades of flight: Heathrow through the years – in pictures

Heathrow Airport in London, the UK's busiest, has been a travel hub for decades. Here The National takes a look back at Heathrow through the years. All photos: Getty Images

An Airco De Havilland biplane of the British airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, about to leave on the company’s inaugural flight from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, later known as Heathrow, to Le Bourget, Paris, in August 1919

Waterlogged runways at London Airport - Heathrow's original name - one week before it became Britain's main aerial gateway to the US in 1946

The new BOAC maintenance headquarters at London Airport circa 1955

The air traffic control room at the airport's new terminal in 1955

US film star Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, after arriving at the airport in July 1956

An aerial view showing the runways in 1958

The arrivals and departures board in 1960

A new airport gift shop, selling items by Chanel, Wedgwood and Pringle of Scotland, in 1961

The Queen's Building and the No. 1 Building Europa at Heathrow in 1965

The Beatles leave Heathrow for Salzburg in Austria, to resume filming of the movie Help!, in 1965

Passenger terminal gates at Heathrow in 1966

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC, holding up a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow in 1969

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1970

Passengers boarding the first BOAC Jumbo Jet 747 used for a commercial flight, from London Heathrow to New York, in 1971

Passengers going through the departure lounge at Heathrow in 1973

Concorde takes off from Heathrow on her first commercial flight for British Airways in 1976

Men at work finalising the Heathrow Central underground station before its opening in 1977

Queen Elizabeth II passing though the Tube gates at Heathrow Central station on its opening in 1977

An aerial view of Heathrow in 1978

Passengers waiting near a departures board in 1979

Holidaymakers waiting in the departure lounge at Terminal 3 of Heathrow in 1981

British Airways employees protesting at Heathrow in 1984

Passengers and staff observe a silence in Heathrow's Terminal One to mark the beginning of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997

Rower Steve Redgrave at Heathrow with daughters Sophie and Natalie and son Zak after returning from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with his gold medal

Spectators watch the last Concorde land at Heathrow in 2003

Fans surround the coach carrying the England rugby team at Heathrow, as they arrived from Sydney after winning the World Cup in 2003

Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2004

Passengers queue to check in at Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport during the Christmas 2006 and New Year period

Passengers wait at Terminal 1 on August 10, 2006, after airport security was raised to critical when a terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US was disrupted by police

Planes queueing to take off at Heathrow in 2007

The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow in 2008

Aircraft at Heathrow Airport in front of the London skyline in 2016

Members of Team GB arrive from Rio de Janeiro at Heathrow, after returning from the 2016 Olympics, which saw Great Britain's strongest performance at the Games in over a century

A composite photo shows planes taking off from Heathrow in November 2016. Forty-two planes were captured between 10.17am and 11.17am and a montage was created from those single images

Items are arranged during an auction preview at Heathrow in 2018. The contents of Terminal 1, which closed in 2015, were being sold

An airline passenger wearing a face mask pushes her bags through Heathrow's Terminal 5 during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

British Airways employees welcome Olympians returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Travellers wait in a long queue to pass through the security check in 2022