Entering the UK: exemptions to controls
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Check if you're exempt from immigration control or obtaining permission to enter, and therefore do not need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) or visa.
Adapted edition
- Document type
- Reference Guide
- Format
- DOCX
- Pages
- 4
- Language
- English
- Version
- 1.0
- Updated
- 2026-09-17
- Category
- Safety & operations
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
Description
Check if you're exempt from immigration control or obtaining permission to enter, and therefore do not need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) or visa. Consult the original guidance for current legal and operational details.
Contents
- Update on transition to digital record of exemption
- If you already have a valid exempt vignette sticker in your passport
- Check if you're exempt from immigration control
- Non-armed forces categories and qualifying family members
- Armed forces categories and qualifying family members
- Apply for a digital record of exemption
- Check if you're exempt from obtaining permission to enter
- Other arrangements
- Seafarer s
- Ferry crew
- Airline crew
- International rail crew
Source and licence
Home Office
AttributionHome Office, ‘Entering the UK: exemptions to controls’ (updated 25 February 2026), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
ChangesNeutral text-only adaptation from the official GOV.UK Content API body: headings, paragraphs, ordered and unordered list items and clickable source-link destinations in an appendix preserved. Images, logos, page design, accessible-format request widgets and linked attachments excluded; normalised whitespace, invisible format marks and typography.
Version history
- v1.017/09/2026