Caution: UK ETA App(s)

[ronandannette]

I just avoided being taken advantage of in my ignorance, and thought this information might be helpful to others. In the process of applying for a UK ETA for our upcoming trip to London, I followed the UK government website instructions to download "the App" off the App Store. I searched and clicked on the first one that came up assuming it was the correct one - it certainly looked official enough. I then went through all the steps to upload the necessary data and proceed to the payment page. The total came to $269 CAD per person. This made me go as the government website had mentioned 16GBS per person as the price. It turns out I had downloaded a third-party broker site that was adding in their own exorbitant fees. I immediately terminated the transaction, deleted the App and went back to the App Store to check again for the correct, official UK government one, which is called UK ETA and it's icon is a blue and green crown on a white background. I completed the process properly through that App and all is well, with me still having $500+ bucks in my pocket.

 

[ottawamom]

Thanks for the warning. I have to do that soon as well. How long did your approval take? I want to put it off as long as possible to get a few trips in.

I just check the app I downloaded. I had picked the one with the blue and green crown on a white background. Thanks again for the warning.

 

[ronandannette]

Thanks for the warning. I have to do that soon as well. How long did your approval take? I want to put it off as long as possible to get a few trips in.

Wow - I made the applications last night around 9:00 pm. Your post nudged me to check my email just now and sure enough, the approvals are there already, time-stamped at 9:36 pm. That’s much quicker than I expected it to be. My guess is the process is fully automated and as long as your answers to the questions don’t red-flag anything, the approval is pretty much instant once the payment goes through.

 

[pkondz]

This one

 

[bcwife76]

Thank you for the warning, glad you figured it out in time! My husband and I are going to England and Wales in August and I just checked the app I have downloaded (as we have not done the ETA yet) and thankfully it's the "good one" you mentioned. Ugh, so many scammers out there

 

[ronandannette]

Thank you for the warning, glad you figured it out in time! My husband and I are going to England and Wales in August and I just checked the app I have downloaded (as we have not done the ETA yet) and thankfully it's the "good one" you mentioned. Ugh, so many scammers out there

Well, I was thinking about that and I guess it’s not exactly a scam. Nothing illegal about being a broker/3rd party site probably, but also probably not a service many people actually need to navigate the very easy ETA process. The site also did all types of other visa and immigration applications, and I’m sure there are many people quite desperate for help with that. I do wonder what causes the App Store to arrange the search results the way it does. It seems the official UK ETA site should be the first to pop up when you search those exact words.

 

[starvenger]

I think you should be able to do this off of a government website as well. I did one for a trip in December and it was, as it was here, very quick and painless.

 

[ronandannette]

I think you should be able to do this off of a government website as well. I did one for a trip in December and it was, as it was here, very quick and painless.

The government website directs you to download the App. There really isn’t a way to scan the chip in your passport (which you need to do) on a laptop or desktop.

 

[ottawamom]

Actually you can. You just need to really look at the website to find the link that takes you to the desktop version. It's more work than using the app but it's there. You don't need to scan the chip to apply, you'll just have to manually enter all the info or take a photo and upload it.

 

[starvenger]

The government website directs you to download the App. There really isn’t a way to scan the chip in your passport (which you need to do) on a laptop or desktop.

I didn't need to. The machines at Heathrow took care of that.