The timeline announced in recent weeks has now entered its concrete phase. On the official ETA website, the UK authorities now state that, starting on April 23, 2026, an Electronic Travel Authorisation will be required to travel to Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, and that applications can already be submitted now.
Since 10 a.m. this morning, that change has also become visible directly in the ETA application process. The ETA remains valid for two years, and its fee increased yesterday from £16 to £20.
The ETA portal now includes a new question asking where the traveler expects to spend most of their time, with four options available: the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.
The form also makes clear that the ETA will not be affected if travel plans change. That detail matters, because it shows that this new step is primarily intended to identify the traveler’s main destination, rather than lock the application into a completely fixed itinerary.
Based on the message displayed during the application process, ETAs that have already been approved should also allow entry into the three newly added territories once the program takes effect there on April 23.
ETA for Jersey and Guernsey: what this changes for French travelers
Until now, the ETA had mainly been seen as a UK-related travel formality. By now explicitly including Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man in the application process, the portal gives very concrete form to these territories’ entry into the system in two weeks’ time.
The ETA will therefore soon become mandatory for almost all travelers who are exempt from a UK visa and wish to visit these three territories. Almost all, because an exception remains in place for certain French travelers.
French day-trippers visiting the Channel Islands will not need an ETA starting on April 23, 2026.
A French national may therefore still travel to Jersey, as well as to Guernsey, without an ETA for a same-day return excursion, using a French national ID card under the local arrangement already in place.
That exemption remains narrow, however. It applies only to a direct same-day round trip with no overnight stay. In the case of a one-way journey, a stay of more than one day, or even a same-day excursion involving a stopover, French travelers will, from April 23, 2026, need to hold an ETA and travel with a passport.
The Isle of Man is not covered by this exemption, which applies only to French day-trippers traveling to Jersey and Guernsey.
