This year marks an acceleration of the world’s shift towards digital border systems. Here’s how to get ahead of the change.
Alex Schulte | 8 January 2025
Today marks the launch of the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation border system.
This might not sound like a red letter day. But to understand its quiet significant, let’s cast our minds forward a few weeks into the future. It’s early February 2025, and your company’s top executives are rushing to board a flight to London for a critical client meeting. They’ve done this same journey countless times before. But this time, something is different. They’ve all forgotten to secure their UK ETA. When they get to border control at Heathrow, they’re stopped. No ETA, no entry into the UK.
The meeting is missed, the client unimpressed, and the Global Mobility team is left scrambling to explain how this happened. Welcome to the new era of international travel.
This year, border processes are undergoing a seismic shift as countries worldwide roll out ETA systems, fundamentally altering how people move across borders. For Global Mobility managers, 2025 isn’t just another year—it’s the year when the rules of corporate travel change subtly but permanently.
An Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a digital pre-travel permission that visitors must obtain before entering certain countries for short-term stays. It pre-clears travellers from a set of visa-exempt countries. For business travellers who are visa-exempt, ETAs add an extra step to trip planning, typically requiring basic personal information, travel details, and a small processing fee.
Many global travellers will be familiar with the USA’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) system, which has been effective since 2008. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also had similar systems in place for years. However, 2025 is noteworthy for the sheer number of countries implementing or updating their own ETA requirements more or less simultaneously.
The UK’s ETA entered force on 8 January 2025. But the UK isn’t the only country rolling out a digitalised border control system this year.
For Global Mobility managers, these new ETA requirements represent a significant shift in travel management responsibilities. The days of visa-exempt business travellers freely crossing borders with just a passport are coming to an end. Instead, companies must now integrate ETA applications into their standard travel procedures, requiring careful advance planning and systematic tracking of these new digital permissions.
Financial implications: While individual ETA fees are relatively modest (typically ranging from $10-40), they add up quickly for companies with frequent international travel requirements. And that’s before we get into the other costs of failing to sort an ETA – disrupted meetings, rebooked flights, and damaged client relationships.
Employee awareness: While Global Mobility teams are responsible for monitoring this kind of regulatory change, many employees in other teams won’t be so in the know. If a business as a whole is unaware of these changes, it runs a high risk of staff getting stopped at the border, with all the unfortunate externalities that entails.
Technology Dependence: These digital systems promise efficiency. But as with all large software infrastructures, they also introduce new vulnerabilities like technical glitches or outages that might sporadically make travel more difficult. The May 2024 mass failure of e-gates at UK airports is a reminder of how border digitalisation can, very occasionally, go wrong.
On the flip side, businesses that manage the transition to ETAs well should enjoy a faster travel experience with fewer nasty surprises.
Predictability: ETAs give businesses greater control and predictability over employee travel. By requiring pre-authorisation before departure, ETAs help ensure that employees meet entry requirements before they even board a plane. This reduces the risk of last-minute disruptions, such as being denied boarding or entry at the destination.
Simpler Multi-Entry Travel: Many ETA systems, including the UK’s, allow for multiple entries over a set period (e.g., two years or until the passport expires). This is particularly advantageous for companies whose employee travel patterns tend towards a consistent set of destinations each year.
Reduced Overstay Risks: An ETA application process will typically provide clear guidelines on permissible activities and durations of stay. This means that employees are less likely to overstay their permitted time abroad, which was an all-too-frequent feature of previous visa-free arrangements.
The 2025 ETA wave has already arrived, so Global Mobility teams should start proactively preparing right away.
This should start with a deep review of your current travel policies and systems. Ask yourself:
This assessment should feed into a comprehensive ETA compliance checklist, with a regular review process for travel documentation requirements. On top of this, an automated notification system for both travellers and mobility managers will keep you compliant at all times.
Robust communication across the whole organisation is essential. Every employee who travels should be aware of the new requirements and the internal processes in place to meet them.
Competent Global Mobility teams should have little problem mastering the ETA transition. But a technologically-enabled backbone of documented compliance processes will help stave off any small but costly missteps.
For a comprehensive case study of a real-life ETA, watch our webinar now available on demand on the UK’s new ETA system. We examine how it works, who it affects, how to apply and how to stay compliant.
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