A travel agent says new rules for New Zealanders wanting to visit the United Kingdom could prove costly if people are not aware of them.

From January, people wanting to travel to the UK will need to apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) as the country digitises its border and immigration system.

“Everyone wishing to travel to the UK – except British and Irish citizens – will need permission to travel in advance of coming here. This can be either through an ETA or an eVisa,” the UK Home Office said.

Eligible citizens outside of Europe could apply for an ETA from 27 November 2024, and it would be compulsory from 8 January 2025.

Those Kiwis with European passports, however, would have until 2 April 2025, with applications open from 5 March 2025.

Flight Centre NZ general manager Heidi Walker said previously New Zealanders had been able to enter the UK for six months without a visa.

All that was required then was an onward ticket and sometimes proof travellers could support themselves financially in the UK over that period, she said.

“So it’s very easy for New Zealanders to currently travel to the United Kingdom.”

Although the cost for the new eVisa or ETA was relatively small at £10 (NZ$21), Walker said it could get costly if travellers were not aware of the rule change.

“If you’ve planned your holiday yourself, unaware that you require a visa and then you go [to check in], you could be denied boarding, which obviously is an extremely costly mistake for travellers to make,” she said.

The visa application was expected to take around three days to process.

The UK Home Office said ETAs were digitally linked to a traveller’s passport, so they ensured more robust security checks were carried out before people began their journey to the UK, helping prevent abuse of their immigration system.

“Digitisation enables a smooth experience for the millions of people who pass through the border every year,” the British migration minister Seema Malhotra said.

“The worldwide expansion of the ETA demonstrates our commitment to enhance security through new technology and embedding a modern immigration system.”

People living, working or studying in the UK would also now require an eVisa rather than physical documents.

Walker said travel agents were seeing more countries using an electronic entry method, rather than the physical passport stamping of years gone by.

“This is really taking that process and doing it prior to boarding an aircraft to speed up the arrival into a country.”

New Zealand had also made recent changes to the fees it charged visitors, with its International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) jumping from $35 to $100 on 1 October.

Its electronic entry fee – known as the NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) – was remaining the same.