An email arrives, and it does not say what you hoped. Your UK ETA application has been rejected, or refused, and the trip you planned suddenly looks uncertain. Before deciding anything, it helps to know which of those two words you are dealing with, because they lead to very different next steps.
This guide explains the difference as the rules stand on 10 October 2026, walks through the main reasons an application fails, and sets out what you can and cannot do afterwards. It is general information about how the ETA scheme works, not legal advice on any individual case.
The short answer
- Rejected usually means the application itself was not valid or your identity could not be confirmed. It was not assessed as a question of suitability, and you can normally make a new application.
- Refused means the application was valid but you did not meet a suitability requirement, for example because of a criminal conviction or an earlier immigration problem. The rules make refusal mandatory when a ground applies.
- There is no appeal. The published decision-maker guidance states that there is no right of administrative review or appeal against an ETA decision.
- An ETA refusal is not a refusal of entry. It does mean that, if you still wish to travel, the route is a visa rather than an ETA.
Five outcomes people mix up
Online discussion often uses “refused” for everything that goes wrong. In immigration terms these are five separate events.
| Outcome | What it concerns | Typical cause | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application rejected | The ETA application | Invalid application, unverified identity, a reported lost or stolen passport | A new application can normally be made once the problem is fixed. |
| ETA refused | The ETA application | A suitability ground, such as criminality or earlier immigration breaches | You have not been granted an ETA. A visa is the route for coming to the UK. |
| ETA cancelled | An ETA already granted | Facts that mean it should not have been, or a later change | The ETA stops being usable, and it may affect future applications. |
| Visa refused | A UK visa application | The visa route’s own requirements | Separate from the ETA scheme, with its own rules on re-applying and review. |
| Entry refused | Arrival at the border | An officer’s decision on permission to enter | Made in person, whether or not you hold an ETA. |
What an ETA rejection means
A rejection is the less serious outcome. The rules say that an application which does not meet the validity requirements is invalid and must be rejected rather than considered. Those requirements cover things such as applying through the proper channel, giving a working email address, paying, providing an eligible national passport that establishes identity and nationality, supplying a face photo that meets the digital photo standards, and travelling for a purpose an ETA can cover.
Identity is the other common trigger. Where the system cannot confirm who the applicant is, the case goes to a human decision maker, who either accepts or rejects it. The decision-maker guidance says an application rejected at the identity stage is not tested against the suitability rules, and the applicant can make a new application. A passport that has been reported lost or stolen is treated the same way: the application is rejected and can be repeated with a valid document.
A rejection is therefore a statement about the application, not about you as a traveller. It does not on its own place a mark against you for future applications. The practical consequence is that you will need to start again, because a submitted ETA application cannot be amended or withdrawn, and the application fee is not refunded once you have applied. If your photo was the problem, our requirements checklist explains what to get right the second time.
What an ETA refusal means
A refusal is a different matter. It follows from a valid application that was assessed against the suitability rules and failed one of them. Most applications never reach this stage because they are granted through automated processing. A human decision maker looks at a case only where identity cannot be confirmed automatically, where Home Office records show adverse information, or where the applicant has declared a conviction or involvement in war crimes, terrorism or extremism.
Two features of the rules are worth knowing. First, refusal is mandatory where a suitability ground applies; the decision maker is told not to exercise discretion. Second, refusals and rejections are always made by a person, never by an automated process alone. That is why the right to ask for a human review of a purely automated decision does not help someone who has been refused.
A refusal also has a legal consequence the rules spell out: a person refused an ETA has not been refused permission to enter the UK, and if they want to come they will need to apply for a visa.
Identity, passport and photo problems
These are the commonest reasons for an application to fail, and they sit on the rejection side. Practical sources of trouble include:
- A photo outside the standard. Heavy shadow, glasses glare, a hat, a blurred image or an expression that obscures the face can delay an application or lead to rejection.
- A passport that does not qualify. The application must use a national passport that establishes identity and an eligible nationality. Some travel documents do not meet that test, and an application built on one will not be valid.
- Mismatched details. Typing the passport number, date of birth or name differently from the passport page can stop the identity check from succeeding.
If one of these applies, fix the underlying problem before submitting again. Applying a second time with the same blurry photo or the same typo only repeats the result. Our guide to UK ETA requirements lists the details to check, and the article on how long a UK ETA takes covers what to do when a decision seems overdue rather than negative.
Criminal convictions
The criminality rules have been revised over time, so figures quoted on older pages may be out of date. Under the rules as published at the date of this article an ETA application must be refused where the applicant has been convicted of an offence, in the UK or overseas, and either of the following applies:
- the sentence was custodial or suspended and lasted 12 months or more; or
- the conviction is recent, meaning 12 months or less have passed since the date of conviction.
A conviction older than 12 months that did not involve a sentence of that length is not caught by those two rules. That does not make it irrelevant. A separate ground allows refusal where a person’s presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good because of their conduct, character, associations or other reasons, and that ground expressly includes convictions that fall outside the criminality rules.
Overseas convictions and self-declaration
The application asks about convictions and the answer is mandatory. Where a conviction is declared, the applicant is asked for details such as the offence, date, country and sentence. For an overseas conviction, the guidance directs decision makers to look at the nature of the offence rather than its title, and at whether it has a direct equivalent in UK law. Convictions for conduct that is not a crime in the UK are not refused solely on that basis, and parking offences are not a ground for refusal.
One practical caution: the short application questions are worded more briefly than the rules themselves, and the rules describe sentences of “12 months or more”. If you are near a threshold, or unsure how your conviction is classed, get advice before answering. Answering inaccurately creates a second problem, covered below.
Immigration history and earlier refusals
Several suitability grounds look backwards at how someone has dealt with the UK immigration system.
Previous refusals as a visitor
An application must be refused if the applicant has previously been refused entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay under the Visitor rules, unless the Home Office holds a record that they held a valid ETA, visa or permission that was not cancelled because of the refusal, or that valid permission was later granted with knowledge of the refusal. The guidance adds that refusals under other routes, such as a study or work route, should not on their own lead to an ETA refusal.
This matters for people considering a Standard Visitor visa after an ETA refusal. A later visitor refusal can itself become a ground for refusing future ETA applications. For that reason, see how an ETA differs from a visa before choosing the next route.
Overstaying, breaches and illegal entry
Past breaches of immigration law can lead to refusal where they occurred when the person was 18 or older. They include overstaying, breaching a condition of permission, entering illegally and using deception in an immigration application. There are exceptions. For example, a short overstay that ended with a voluntary departure, at the person’s own expense, may not count, with limits that depend on the date the overstay began. Whether an exception fits is a technical question where individual advice is worth having.
An earlier ETA cancellation
An earlier cancellation does not automatically block a new application. The automatic ground applies where a previous ETA was cancelled because the basic requirements were not met, for example because the holder was not travelling as a visitor, the document was not eligible or the holder was not an eligible national. A cancellation for another reason is considered against the person’s current circumstances rather than treated as a bar.
False information and missing facts
An application must be refused where, in relation to the current or any earlier ETA application, false representations were made, false documents or information were submitted, or relevant facts were not disclosed. The wording is strict: it applies whether or not the false detail was relevant to the application and whether or not the applicant knew it was wrong.
In plain terms, accuracy is not something to treat casually. Guessing a passport expiry date, leaving out an earlier visit that the form asks about, or copying details from someone else’s application can all create problems that last beyond a single attempt, because the rule looks back at earlier ETA applications as well. Take the form slowly, check each answer against the passport and your own records, and when a question is unclear, find out what it means before you answer.
Other grounds for refusal
The remaining grounds apply to a smaller number of people, but a complete picture includes them.
- Exclusion and deportation. Refusal follows where the Secretary of State has personally directed exclusion, or the applicant is subject to an exclusion order, a deportation order or a decision to make one.
- Conduct and associations. Declared or suspected involvement in war crimes, terrorism or extremism must be disclosed. If a person does not disclose it and Home Office records indicate otherwise, the guidance says the refusal is made on the conducive-to-the-public-good ground rather than as a false-representation case.
- Unpaid litigation costs. Costs awarded to the Home Office that have not been paid can lead to refusal.
When an ETA is cancelled
Cancellation is about an ETA that was already granted. Many of the grounds that require refusal also require cancellation, such as a qualifying conviction, an exclusion or deportation decision, or false information found in the application. An ETA may also be cancelled where the basic requirements were not met when it was issued, for example because the holder was not an eligible national.
Practically, if your ETA is cancelled you cannot rely on it to travel. Check the status of an ETA before you fly instead of assuming that a past approval still stands, particularly if something significant has changed since you applied. See our guide to ETA validity and new passports for the separate situation where an ETA simply stops matching your travel document.
What to do after a rejection or refusal
The right response depends entirely on which outcome you received. Read the message carefully before acting.
| If you were… | Sensible next step | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Rejected for a photo or detail error | Correct the photo or detail, then submit a new application. | Repeating the same photo or typing the same details again. |
| Rejected for an identity problem | Check the passport page, name spelling and the document’s status, then apply again with accurate details. | Using a different person’s details or an older passport. |
| Rejected because the passport was reported lost | Apply with a valid passport. Contact your passport authority if the status looks wrong. | Reapplying with the same cancelled document. |
| Refused on suitability grounds | Do not simply resubmit. Work out which ground applied and consider a visa route and professional advice. | Re-answering suitability questions differently to try to change the result. |
| Not sure which you received | Re-read the message. If it is unclear, get help from an adviser before acting. | Assuming it is a minor error and paying for repeated attempts. |
Whatever the result, avoid third-party websites that promise to overturn a decision or “guarantee” approval. No service can promise an outcome, and ours does not. Anyone offering a guaranteed result is promising something nobody can control.
Review and appeal rights
For ETAs the published guidance is direct: there is no right to administrative review or appeal against a decision on an ETA application. A separate review right exists for someone who was granted an ETA by a purely automated process and wants a person to look at it, but that is not a way to challenge a refusal, since refusals are made by a decision maker.
Visa decisions are different. Whether a visa refusal carries any right of appeal or administrative review depends on the visa route, and the decision letter normally says so. Not every visa refusal can be appealed, and an appeal right is not something to assume. If you believe the decision involved a legal error, an immigration solicitor or a regulated adviser is the right person to ask, rather than a general website.
When a UK visa may be the next step
If an ETA is refused, the rules say that a person who wants to come to the UK needs a visa. In practice that usually means a Standard Visitor visa for tourism, family visits, business activities or short study, though other routes may suit other purposes. Note that a visitor visa is judged against its own requirements, which include showing that you are a genuine visitor with the means to support the trip and a plan to leave, and against suitability rules too.
People with a conviction or an earlier refusal sometimes choose to apply for a visitor visa from the outset because a visa application involves a fuller assessment of the individual’s circumstances than an automated ETA check. That can be a sensible choice, but it is not a promise of approval, and a refused visa can in turn affect later applications. Our UK visa overview explains the main routes and what to prepare.
Refusal versus being refused entry
These are easy to confuse and legally distinct. An ETA is permission to travel, not permission to enter. Even a traveller who holds a valid ETA must satisfy a Border Force officer on arrival, and officers can refuse entry. The reverse is also true: a refused ETA application does not count as a refusal of permission to enter, because no one has presented themselves at the border.
There is one more link to watch. A refusal of permission to enter under the Visitor rules can become a reason to refuse a later ETA application. So the first border experience matters, and travellers who have been turned away at a UK border before should be especially careful about how they plan the next trip.
Protecting your travel plans
The best protection is timing. Apply as soon as your dates are firm, and wait for the confirming email before committing to travel that cannot be changed. Leaving the application until the week of departure means a rejection or a referral leaves almost no room to correct anything, and a refusal leaves no time to arrange a visa.
If your history includes a conviction, a past refusal or an immigration breach, settle your route before booking anything non-refundable. Families should apply for every traveller separately; our guide to ETAs for children and families explains why.
Example scenarios
The following are hypothetical examples, written to illustrate how the rules operate. They are not real travellers and not predictions of how a given case will be decided.
Example 1: the recent conviction
An applicant was convicted of a minor offence six months ago and answers the application honestly. Because the conviction falls within the last 12 months, the criminality ground applies and the ETA is refused. The applicant is not barred from the UK for ever. The practical choices are to wait until the 12-month period has passed or to look at whether a visa application, with advice, fits the trip.
Example 2: the old visitor refusal
Years ago, a traveller was refused a visitor visa. They now apply for an ETA and are refused because of that earlier Visitor-route refusal, with no record of later permission being granted. They will need to look at another route, with advice.
Example 3: the guessed answer
A traveller is unsure whether an old caution counts and ticks “no” to be safe. If Home Office records later show otherwise, the false-representation ground could apply to this and to future applications. The careful course would have been to find out the position before answering.
Common mistakes
- Treating a rejection as a refusal. A rejection normally means “fix and try again”, not “you are barred”.
- Treating a refusal as a rejection. Resubmitting the same facts and answers will usually give the same result.
- Changing honest answers to get through. This risks the false-representation ground and can create a lasting problem.
- Relying on outdated criminality rules. The thresholds have been revised, so older articles can give the wrong picture.
- Believing there is an appeal for an ETA. There is not, so effort is better spent on the correct route.
Checklist before you apply again
- Confirm whether the message said rejected or refused, and keep a copy.
- Identify the likely cause: photo, passport details, identity, a past event or something else.
- Check the passport you will travel with is valid, undamaged and not reported lost or stolen.
- Retake the photo to the digital photo standard if there was any doubt.
- If a conviction, refusal or breach is involved, consider advice before you resubmit.
- Check whether a visa would suit the trip better than an ETA.
- Wait for the confirming email before you rely on the ETA to travel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a rejected and a refused ETA?
A rejection means the application was invalid or your identity could not be confirmed, and it was not assessed for suitability. A refusal means a valid application failed a suitability requirement.
Can I apply again after my ETA application is rejected?
Generally yes. The published guidance says an applicant rejected at the identity stage can make a new application, and the same approach applies to other rejections once the cause is fixed. A new application means a new fee.
Can I apply again after a refusal?
Nothing in the rules stops a new application, but if the facts have not changed the result is unlikely to change either. A refusal is better treated as a prompt to review the route than as an invitation to retry.
Can I appeal a UK ETA refusal?
No. The guidance states there is no right of administrative review or appeal against an ETA decision.
Does an ETA refusal mean I cannot visit the UK?
No. It means you were not granted an ETA. A person who is refused an ETA has not been refused permission to enter and can apply for a visa if they wish to travel.
Does a criminal record always lead to a refusal?
No. Refusal follows where a conviction meets a stated test, such as a sentence of 12 months or more or a conviction within the last 12 months, or where the conduct ground applies. Convictions outside those tests are considered differently.
Does a previous UK student or work visa refusal block an ETA?
Under the guidance, a refusal under a route other than the Visitor route should not on its own result in an ETA refusal. Other grounds may still apply.
Could an ETA be refused because of a mistake on the form?
An invalid application is rejected. Incorrect information given in connection with an ETA application can also engage the false-representation ground, whether or not it was relevant or deliberate, so accuracy matters.
Can an approved ETA later be cancelled?
Yes. Cancellation can follow where grounds such as a qualifying conviction, an exclusion decision or non-disclosure come to light, or where the requirements for an ETA were not met.
Does an approved ETA guarantee I can enter the UK?
No. An ETA is permission to travel. A Border Force officer decides on permission to enter when you arrive.
Should I apply for a visa instead of an ETA if I have a conviction?
It can be worth considering, because a visa application lets you explain your circumstances. It does not guarantee approval, so the decision is best made with advice before you book travel.