Digital travel permit to be introduced in late 2025

A digital permit scheme for visitors to the Isle of Man from outside the Common Travel Area is to be introduced by late 2025.

The new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a permit that non-British and non-Irish citizens, who do not require a visa, will need to enter the island.

It mirrors the system being implemented in the UK requiring tourists to apply for an ETA before travelling there.

Treasury Minister Alex Allinson said the permits, which would cost £10, were a "pivotal step towards ongoing work to keep our island a safe place to live work and visit".

The Common Travel Area (CTA) is made up of the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The Home Office in London said ETAs, which were valid for two years and allowed multiple stays of up to six months, would provide for a more streamlined and secure immigration system.

The UK rolled out the permits for anyone travelling to the country from non-European Union (EU) countries, including the United States and Australia, in January, with EU states to follow from 2 April.

The digital permit is linked to passports, and can be applied for online.

During last week's Tynwald sitting, Allinson had called for the UK government's Nationality and Borders Act to be extended to the island, so the permit system could be introduced.

When passed in the UK in 2022, provisions included offshoring asylum - handling claims at overseas facilities - and making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally.

But Lawrie Hooper said he would be "uncomfortable" about giving "blanket permission to bring in the other provisions in this bill, even though this government wasn't intending to", and called for an amendment that allowed only the ETA introduction to be approved.

Politicians voted to back the amended, which would see the need for permits apply to those travelling to the island from outside the CTA from late 2025.

The Isle of Man's ETA scheme will be administered by the UK.

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