# UK ETA for Hong Kong Residents: HKSAR, BN(O), Macau and PRC Passports Explained (2026 Guide)

> HKSAR passport? You need the £20 UK ETA, not a visit visa. BN(O) holders need nothing; PRC passports need a Standard Visitor visa. Steps, validity, transit and refusals.

Canonical: https://chartavisa.com/guides/uk-eta-hong-kong
Last updated: 2026-09-14

## UK visit visa from Hong Kong — or the ETA? It depends on your passport

Most people who search for a “UK visit visa from Hong Kong” do not actually need a visa. If you travel on a **Hong Kong SAR passport**, the document you need for a holiday, a business trip or a family visit is the **UK ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation)**: a £20 electronic permission, linked to your passport, valid for two years and required since **8 January 2025**. It is not a visa — there is no interview, no biometrics appointment and no supporting documents, just an app and a few minutes. But Hong Kong is a city of several passports, and the right answer changes with the one you hold. Check your own case in seconds on [our Hong Kong → UK requirements page](https://chartavisa.com/visa/hk/uk); the four common cases are below.

## Which passport are you travelling on? The four cases

- **HKSAR passport → ETA.** Hong Kong SAR passport holders are on the UK’s ETA-eligible list. Apply in the official “UK ETA” app before you fly; airlines check for an approved ETA at check-in and will refuse boarding without one.
- **BN(O) passport → no ETA, no visa.** A British National (Overseas) passport is a British passport. British nationals — BN(O)s included — do **not** need an ETA and cannot apply for one. You are admitted as a visitor on arrival for up to six months. (BN(O) status does not carry the right of abode; if you plan to live in the UK, that is the separate BN(O) visa route, not this guide.)
- **Macau SAR passport → ETA.** Same scheme, same £20, same app. Details on [our Macau → UK page](https://chartavisa.com/visa/mo/uk).
- **PRC (mainland China) passport → Standard Visitor visa.** Chinese passport holders living in Hong Kong — typically recent arrivals who do not yet hold a HKSAR passport — are not ETA-eligible. They need a Standard Visitor visa (£135 at the time of writing, decisions usually within about three weeks, with a biometrics appointment at the UK visa application centre in Hong Kong). The same applies to holders of a Hong Kong **Document of Identity for Visa Purposes**.

## Dual and mixed-passport families

Hong Kong families are where most of the confusion — and most of the wasted £20 fees — happen. The rules, case by case:

- **You hold both a BN(O) and a HKSAR passport.** Book, check in and enter the UK on the BN(O) passport, and do not buy an ETA for the HKSAR one. Use the same passport at every step: the airline reads whichever document you present, and a HKSAR passport with no ETA behind it is a denied boarding.
- **Parents on BN(O), children only on HKSAR passports.** The children need an ETA each. Every traveller, including babies, needs their own application — a parent’s British nationality does not extend to a child who does not hold a British passport.
- **One family member on a PRC passport.** That person needs the Standard Visitor visa and should start weeks earlier; everyone else’s ETA does nothing for them.
- **Relatives already living in the UK on the BN(O) visa** do not need an ETA — they already hold UK permission. The family flying out from Hong Kong to visit them does.

## Validity, cost and what the ETA lets you do

The fee is **£20 per person** (around HK$200), paid by card in the app; it started at £10, rose to £16 in 2025 and has been £20 since 8 April 2026. The ETA is valid for **two years or until your passport expires**, whichever comes first, and allows **multiple entries of up to six months each**. It covers tourism, business meetings and conferences, visiting family and friends, and courses shorter than six months. It does not allow paid work, study beyond six months, or settling — those need visas. And if you renew your HKSAR passport, the ETA tied to the old one dies with it: you apply again.

## Step by step: applying in the official UK ETA app

1. **Download the “UK ETA” app** from the App Store or Google Play (or use GOV.UK if you have no compatible phone). Only the British government issues ETAs; every other site, ours included, is an intermediary.
2. **Scan your passport chip.** Take the passport out of its cover and hold the phone flat against the photo page until the NFC read completes. This is where most attempts stall.
3. **Take a photo and complete the face scan.** Plain background, no glasses, no filters.
4. **Answer the questions:** contact details, home address, occupation, and the eligibility questions on criminal convictions and previous immigration history. Read these slowly — they are in English only, and a wrong tick here is the most common cause of refusal.
5. **Pay £20** and wait for the email. Most decisions arrive within hours; the official guidance is to allow up to **three working days**. Apply when you book, not the week you fly.
6. **Check the confirmation email** against your passport: name, number, expiry. A single transposed digit means the airline’s system will not find your ETA.

If you would rather not navigate the English-only form alone, [Charta Visa prepares and checks your ETA application](https://chartavisa.com/apply?visa=UK_ETA&origin=HK): a guided form in your language, a 23-point error check before submission, and a refund guarantee. We are a private service, not a government site, and the £20 government fee is the same either way.

## Transit: connecting through London to Europe or North America

Many Hong Kong itineraries only touch the UK in transit. The exemption is narrow: **only airside transit at Heathrow and Manchester** — staying inside the international zone without passing UK passport control — is currently exempt. If you collect a bag, change terminals through immigration, hold separately booked tickets, or connect at Gatwick or any other airport, you need the ETA. Given the £20 fee against the cost of a missed long-haul connection, most travellers are better off simply holding one.

## Common refusal reasons — and what to do

Refusals are rare and usually self-inflicted: an eligibility question answered wrongly, details that do not match the passport, a rejected photo, or an undeclared previous UK refusal or overstay. Genuine grounds — serious criminal convictions or past immigration breaches — lead to a refusal that cannot be appealed. If the cause was a mistake, correct it and apply again (the £20 is not refunded); if you are refused on substantive grounds, the route is a Standard Visitor visa application, which takes weeks. Either way, an imminent flight is at risk, which is the whole argument for applying early and carefully.

## What to bring at the border

The ETA is electronic and linked to your passport, so there is nothing to print — but carry the confirmation email anyway. Bring the **same passport the ETA is attached to**, a return or onward ticket, your accommodation address, and evidence of how you will support yourself, in case the Border Force officer asks. An ETA is permission to travel, not guaranteed entry: the final decision is made at the border. Check your passport is valid for the whole stay with our free [passport checker](https://chartavisa.com/tools/passport-checker) and our [2026 passport requirements guide](https://chartavisa.com/guides/passport-requirements-2026).

## Visit visa vs ETA at a glance

- **Who:** ETA for HKSAR and Macau SAR passports; Standard Visitor visa for PRC passports and Document of Identity holders; nothing for BN(O) passports.
- **Cost:** ETA £20; Standard Visitor visa £135 at the time of writing.
- **Time:** ETA usually hours, up to three working days; visa usually around three weeks plus a biometrics appointment.
- **Validity:** ETA two years, multiple entries; standard visit visa six months, with longer 2, 5 or 10-year options.
- **Stay:** up to six months per visit in both cases.

For the scheme in general, read [what the UK ETA is](https://chartavisa.com/guides/what-is-uk-eta).

**Charta Visa is a private travel-authorisation review and processing service. We are not a government website and we are not affiliated with any government.**

## FAQ

**Do Hong Kong passport holders need a visa for the UK?**

No. HKSAR passport holders do not need a visit visa; since 8 January 2025 they need the UK ETA — a £20 electronic authorisation applied for in the official UK ETA app, valid for two years and covering visits of up to six months. Chinese (PRC) passport holders and Document of Identity holders living in Hong Kong do need a Standard Visitor visa.

**Do BN(O) passport holders need a UK ETA?**

No. A British National (Overseas) passport is a British passport, and British nationals neither need nor can apply for an ETA. Travel on the BN(O) passport at every step — booking, check-in and the border — and do not buy an ETA for a HKSAR passport you are not travelling on.

**How long is the UK ETA valid for?**

Two years from approval, or until the passport it is linked to expires, whichever comes first. It allows multiple entries with stays of up to six months each. A renewed passport means a new ETA.

**How long does the UK ETA take from Hong Kong?**

Most applications are approved within hours, but the official guidance is to allow up to three working days. Airlines will not board you without an approved ETA, so apply when you book rather than the week of departure.

**Can a Chinese passport holder living in Hong Kong get the UK ETA?**

No. PRC passports are not on the ETA-eligible list. You need a Standard Visitor visa: an online application, a biometrics appointment at the UK visa application centre in Hong Kong, a £135 fee at the time of writing, and a decision usually within about three weeks.

## Sources

- [GOV.UK — Apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)](https://www.gov.uk/eta)
- [GOV.UK — Electronic Travel Authorisation: who needs one and when](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta)
- [GOV.UK — Standard Visitor visa](https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor)
- [GOV.UK — Check if you need a UK visa](https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa)