Will french children of british citizens need eta to enter the uk?

ALL NON-BRITISH AND NON-IRISH CITIZENS ENTERING THE UK WILL SOON NEED EITHER A VISA OR AN ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORISATION Reader Question: I am British, and with my French wife have four

children all under the age of 18, born in France and with only French passports. Are they exempt from ETA rules?  The number of people affected by the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation

(ETA) greatly expanded in January to include all citizens with visa-free access, except EU citizens.  EU citizens (with the exception of Irish citizens) will need an ETA from April 2, 2025

if they are visiting the UK, as opposed to having their main residency there.  Non-UK citizens with British visas or other forms of entitlement to live and/or work or study in the UK are not

affected. This includes EU citizens with ‘settled status’ under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Non-British children visiting the UK are not exempt from needing an ETA.  The process

consists of an online application for permission to enter the UK which can be via web or app.  Once approved, the permission is automatically linked to the person’s passport, so no document

or app has to be shown at the border.  Note that an ETA is not required to simply transit through the UK if not passing through border control. Read more: No ETA permit needed for Americans

and others only transiting in UK Read more: New UK travel permit rules: how are travellers from France affected? CHILDREN’S CITIZENSHIP THROUGH PASSPORT  In most cases if you are British and

living abroad you automatically pass your citizenship rights to your children, including those born outside of the UK.  However, to obtain proof of this you still need to apply for the

child’s UK passport – you can read more about how to do this below. Read more: Can my children have a British passport if born in France? There are less common situations where British

citizenship is not passed ‘automatically’ to children, but it is possible to apply to ‘register’ the child as British, at a fee of £1,214. This includes, for example, where the adult was not

British themselves when the child was born; or where the adult was themselves born to British parents living outside the UK. Once a child is registered as British, however, you would still

need to apply for a passport for them, for ETA exemption.  There is also a process whereby, under certain conditions, it is possible to apply for a certificate of the right of abode in the

UK, which can be placed in a child’s foreign passport. This requires supporting documents such as the child’s and parents’ birth certificates and the parents’ marriage certificate, and costs

£550. The UK says proof of ‘right of abode’ exempts people from ETA, similarly to showing a UK passport. In view of the additional costs involved, applying for the children’s first UK

passports is probably the best solution if the family situation allows for this.  To enter the UK, everyone, whether British or non-British, usually needs a valid passport, though an

exemption exists for school trips when EU identity cards may be used if preferred. Dual nationals can choose to use the passport which is more convenient to them when entering or leaving the

UK or France. Read more: Is it possible to use different passports to enter and leave France and the UK?