UK ETA for Chilean Citizens

Do Chilean Citizens Need a UK ETA?

The requirement follows the passport you travel on. It is not decided by where you live, which airline you fly or whether you have been to the UK before. Permission to travel is also not the same as permission to enter. The ETA is the first, and the officer at the border still decides the second.

Chile and the 8 January 2025 Rollout

The ETA National List is organised by date. Qatar came first, the Gulf states followed, and a larger group joined from 8 January 2025, before a further European group followed from 2 April 2025. Chile belongs to the 8 January 2025 group, which covers countries across the Americas, the Pacific, the Caribbean and parts of Asia. Chile was therefore not one of the first nationalities affected.

The practical consequence is simple. A Chilean passport holder who travels to the UK on or after 8 January 2025 needs an ETA. Anyone who relied on an older article or on a relative’s memory that Chileans could travel without any check should be careful. That description may match the position before the rollout, but it does not describe the present rules.

The Chilean Passport and the ETA

The ETA is linked to the passport you name in the application. Under the Immigration Rules, an ETA is valid and confers permission to travel only where the holder travels using the passport specified in the application. The document you enter on the form and the document you show at the UK border must be the same.

This matters in three situations. If you hold a Chilean passport and a passport from another country, the ETA belongs to the document you apply with. If your passport is replaced while an ETA is still running, the approval does not move to the new document on its own. And an approval has a two-year limit, so an older ETA may have ended even though the passport is still in date.

Your passport must also remain valid for the whole of your stay. Chilean official guidance notes that some countries require six months of validity on arrival, so check the rules for every country on your route.

The Cédula: What It Is and What It Is Not

The Chilean cédula de identidad is the national identity card. Official Chilean guidance describes it as the document that establishes a Chilean person’s identity, showing the full name, the national identification number, sex, a photograph, a signature and a fingerprint. It is central to everyday life in Chile.

It is not the document for an ETA trip to the UK. The ETA is valid only for travel on the passport named in the application. Chilean official guidance does allow travel on the identity card alone to a small group of neighbouring South American countries, and the UK is not among them. A traveller who packs only a cédula and expects to board a flight to London will be stopped at check-in or at the border.

Treat the cédula as your identity at home and the passport as your travel document for the UK. If your passport has expired or is close to expiry, renew it before you book.

Names and Passport Details

The application asks for your name as it appears on your passport. The same name can be written in several ways on bookings, school records and social media, so the ETA needs the name printed on the passport data page, entered in the order and spelling shown there.

Chilean official guidance states that the passport carries the holder’s full name, photograph, signature, place and date of birth, and the dates of issue and expiry. Copy the name directly from the data page rather than typing it from memory. If the passport shows a longer name, enter every part that appears on it, and do not shorten it, drop a part or reorder it to match a booking. The same care applies to the date of birth and the passport number.

The official material reviewed here does not set out how surnames are ordered or abbreviated on a passport in detail. For that reason this guide makes no claims about surname structure. Your passport data page is the authority.

Registered Traveller and Chile

Registered Traveller is a UK border service for people with an eligible passport who meet a travel or visa condition. Members can use UK passport lanes at the listed airports and at the Eurostar terminals in Brussels, Lille and Paris, and where a passport has a chip they can use the ePassport gates. Members also do not need to complete a landing card.

Chile is on the eligible-passport list. The service groups it under South and Central America, alongside Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay, with no additional condition attached to the Chilean entry. That is a genuine position, but it is easy to overstate. Eligibility is not membership, and being on a list does not give anyone automatic access to the lanes.

To apply, you must be 18 or older and hold an eligible passport. You must also have either an eligible UK visa, where you need a visa to visit, or a travel history: four or more entries to the UK in the last 24 months, where you did not need a visa to travel. Many Chilean ETA holders will come under the second route, but the count must be made honestly. A journey that only passes through the UK on the way elsewhere does not count.

Membership is a separate application. Check the official service pages before applying, because processing and terms can change. Children aged 17 or under have their own route with its own conditions, so a family should not assume that one parent’s membership covers the children.

eGates at the UK Border

The ePassport gates, known as eGates, are automatic lanes that check your passport chip against your face. They are quicker than a staffed desk, but they are not open to everyone.

Current UK guidance lists the non-EU nationalities allowed to use the automatic eGates. Those listed include Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. Users must also be at least 8 years old and 120cm tall, have a passport with a biometric symbol on the cover, and hold a valid digital immigration status or a record of a digital exemption. Chile is not on that nationality list, so Chilean nationality alone does not give you eGate access. Plan your arrival around a staffed lane.

The same guidance says that members of the Registered Traveller service may also be able to use the immigration lanes and automatic eGates. That is where Chile’s place on the eligible-passport list becomes relevant. Membership is not automatic and the gates are not guaranteed, so treat eGate use as a possible benefit rather than the plan.

For a closer look at the arrival process, see our guide to UK border control, eGates and arrival.

Who Does Not Need an ETA

Some people who hold a Chilean passport do not need an ETA, because they already hold a different form of permission or travel under another status. The most common groups are these.

• A holder of a valid UK visa, or someone with permission to live, work or study in the UK, including settled or pre-settled status or a right of abode.
• A person with permission to live, work or study in Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man, when travelling to the UK on that basis.
• A person lawfully resident in the Republic of Ireland who meets the conditions for travel from within the Common Travel Area, covered in the Ireland section below.
• A British or Irish citizen, who travels using their British or Irish document rather than an ETA.

The exemptions are narrow and depend on the document you actually hold. Confirm an exemption before you book, and keep the evidence with you at the airport.

Dual Nationals

Dual nationality changes the ETA position in different ways depending on the second passport. The most important rule concerns British and Irish citizenship. A dual citizen who holds British or Irish citizenship alongside another nationality cannot obtain an ETA. UK guidance says such a person can prove their citizenship with a valid British passport, or with another valid passport accompanied by a certificate of entitlement showing the right of abode.

For a Chilean citizen who is also British or Irish, the ETA is not a route at all. You travel on the British or Irish evidence and do not apply for an ETA. If you are unsure whether you have British citizenship, check that question before you book, because it changes which document you travel on.

Where the second nationality is from another country on the ETA National List, you apply for an ETA with the passport you intend to use, and that approval covers only that document. If you travel on your other passport on one journey and your Chilean passport on the next, check each passport separately. Where the second nationality requires a UK visa, the ETA is not the route for travel on that passport.

For a fuller explanation of the British and Irish position, see our guide to dual citizens and the passport they travel on.

Families, Children and Mixed-Passport Parties

Every traveller who needs an ETA needs their own, including babies and children. A parent or guardian can apply on a child’s behalf, but the approval is for the child and the passport the child travels on. One family member’s approval does not extend to anyone else in the group.

Decisions can arrive at different times, so plan around the slowest one. Check your email, including spam and junk folders, after each application, and do not book non-refundable travel for everyone until every traveller has an approval.

Mixed-passport parties are common, and the rules for each person follow the passport that person uses. A British citizen does not need an ETA, while a Chilean citizen travelling on a Chilean passport may need one. The border may ask you to prove the relationship between yourself and any children travelling with you. Keep birth certificates or other evidence of the relationship, especially if the name on a child’s passport differs from yours.

For a fuller treatment of children and families, see our guide to children, babies and families.

What an ETA Allows

An ETA is for short visits that fall within the Visitor rules. Visitors may stay for up to six months on each occasion, and the ETA can be used for several journeys while it remains valid. The purposes most Chilean travellers have in mind fall within those rules, provided the activities are the right ones.

• Tourism. Holidays, sightseeing and short city breaks. See UK ETA for tourism.
• Visiting family and friends. Social visits, including attending family events. See visiting family and friends.
• Business meetings and conferences. Meetings, conferences and certain other business activities, as long as the work is not ordinary employment in the UK. See UK ETA for business visits.
• Qualifying short-term study. Short courses that fit the Visitor rules. See UK ETA for short-term study.
• Permitted paid engagements. Certain paid activities that the Visitor rules allow. Check the specific activity before you rely on it. See permitted paid engagements.
• Transit. Passing through the UK on the way to another destination, where an ETA is needed. See the transit section below.

The purpose you state at the border matters. The officer will usually ask why you are coming, and your answers should match the activities you are planning.

What an ETA Does Not Allow

The ETA is not a work permit, a student visa or a route to live in the UK. Some activities that look like visits fall outside the Visitor rules, and getting that wrong can mean refusal of entry or cancellation of permission.

• Ordinary employment in the UK. Taking a job or doing routine paid work for a UK employer is outside the ETA.
• Living in the UK through repeated visits. Repeated short visits do not add up to a right to live in the UK. See how often you can visit on an ETA.
• Long-term study. Courses longer than the Visitor rules allow need a student route.

If your plans fall outside these groups, look at other routes before you apply. The UK visa guide and our comparison of ETA and visa routes set out the main alternatives.

Renewing a Chilean Passport

Chilean official guidance says a passport is valid for ten years. That does not change the ETA rules. An ETA lasts two years from the date of grant or until the expiry of the passport used in the application, whichever is sooner. In practice the two-year limit usually ends the approval first.

Because the ETA is linked to a specific passport, a new passport is a new document for the purposes of the application. If your old passport is replaced while an ETA is still active, check whether the approval still matches the passport you will carry. Where it does not, apply again with the new document.

Passports in Chile are issued by the civil registry service, which uses its own booking system. Official guidance asks for a valid cédula, or your national identification number if you do not have one, and asks for a separate appointment for each child. Plan the renewal well before your trip.

For the wider position, see our guide to ETA validity, multiple trips and a new passport.

Transit and Connections

Chilean travellers often connect through UK airports, and the transit rules depend on whether you pass through UK border control. UK guidance says you need an ETA if you pass through border control at a UK airport before continuing your onward journey. A connection that keeps you airside, without passing through border control, does not need an ETA for that purpose.

Many people assume a transfer is automatically exempt because they never leave the terminal. The real question is whether your route takes you through the border. A single booking can be airside on one leg and landside on another, so check the connection with your airline rather than relying on a general impression of the airport.

We have not listed specific airlines, routes or connection patterns for Chilean travellers, because the rules depend on the booking and the airport rather than on nationality. For the general position, see our guide to UK transit and layovers.

Ireland and Northern Ireland

The UK, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Common Travel Area are different things. The Republic of Ireland is a separate country. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. The Common Travel Area is an arrangement for movement between the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, but it does not remove the ETA requirement for people who need one.

The ETA rule applies to Northern Ireland as part of the UK. A Chilean passport holder travelling from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland generally needs an ETA, unless an exemption applies. The exemption for people lawfully resident in the Republic of Ireland depends on their status there and on proof of residence. It does not apply simply because someone lives or studies in Dublin.

The absence of a passport check at the Northern Ireland border does not mean no permission is needed. For the full picture, see our guide to Ireland, the Common Travel Area and Northern Ireland.

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are self-governing Crown Dependencies, not part of the United Kingdom. Current UK guidance describes an ETA as allowing travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, so a single approval can cover a visit to England and to one of the islands within the same approval period.

The guidance also says you do not need an ETA if you already have permission to live, work or study in one of those islands. That exemption applies only where the permission is genuinely in place. Confirm the position for the specific island before you travel, because island rules can change.

Arriving in the UK

The UK border checks your identity document and your permission to enter. For a traveller from outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, UK guidance says your passport and any visa are checked at border control, and that you will usually be asked why you are coming to the UK.

Have your passport ready and remove it from any holder or wallet. Remove sunglasses or a face covering if you are wearing them, and go through passport control together if you are travelling as a family. Keep your onward travel details and the address where you are staying in your bag, in case the officer asks.

The officer decides whether you may enter. An ETA is permission to travel, and it does not guarantee entry. If you are refused, the next steps depend on the reason, and our guide to refused and rejected applications covers the process.

What to Prepare Before You Apply

Most problems come from rushing the form with a photo you cannot use, a name that does not match the data page, or a travel date that has changed. Gather the information first.

• A valid Chilean passport. Check the expiry date and make sure it will remain valid for the whole of your planned stay.
• An email address you can access. Decisions are sent by email, so check spam and junk folders regularly.
• A suitable photograph. Follow the photo requirements on our requirements page.
• Your travel details. Have your intended arrival date, accommodation and the purpose of your visit ready.
• Your family details. If you are applying for other travellers, prepare each person’s passport details separately.

For how decisions are timed, see our guide to UK ETA processing time. For the basic checklist, see the UK ETA requirements article.

How to Apply

The application is completed online, and the steps follow the same order whichever passport you hold.

1. Confirm that the passport you will travel on is the one you are applying with.
2. Enter your personal details exactly as they appear on the passport data page.
3. Upload a photograph that meets the requirements, and check it before you submit.
4. Answer the questions about your travel and purpose honestly.
5. Pay the service fee where it applies, and keep your confirmation.
6. Check your email for the decision, and carry your passport when you travel.

Be wary of sites that imitate government services or charge more than the official service asks for.

Common UK ETA Mistakes for Chilean Citizens

1. Travelling with a cédula alone. The identity card is not the ETA-linked travel document for the UK.
2. Assuming Registered Traveller means automatic eGates. Eligibility is not membership, and the gates are not guaranteed.
3. Confusing Registered Traveller with the ETA. One is membership, the other is permission to travel.
4. Applying on one passport and flying on another. The ETA is tied to the passport named in the application.
5. Treating a ten-year passport as a ten-year ETA. The ETA lasts two years at most.
6. Forgetting British or Irish citizenship. A dual citizen with British or Irish nationality cannot obtain an ETA.
7. Respelling a name. Enter the name exactly as the passport data page prints it.
8. Skipping children in the count. Each child, including a baby, needs their own approval where one applies.
9. Overlooking Northern Ireland. It is part of the UK, so the ETA rule applies there.
10. Treating an approval as a promise of admission. The officer at the border decides.

Checklist Before You Travel from Chile

• ✓Your ETA is current and linked to the passport you will carry.
• ✓You are travelling on your passport, not on your identity card.
• ✓You know whether an ETA, a UK visa or existing permission applies to you.
• ✓If you hold British or Irish citizenship, you are travelling on that evidence.
• ✓Each person travelling has been checked on their own passport.
• ✓Children and babies have their own passports and, where needed, their own ETAs.
• ✓The name on the application matches the passport data page.
• ✓Your passport remains valid for the whole of your stay.
• ✓Every connection has been checked for an airside or landside route.
• ✓You are not relying on eGates or Registered Traveller without confirming your position.
• ✓Any trip to Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man has been allowed for.
• ✓What you plan to do in the UK sits within the Visitor rules.

UK ETA FAQs for Chilean Citizens

Want more answers? Browse our UK ETA FAQs or contact us. You can also go back to the eligibility checker.