Do Children Need a Travel Authorisation? ETIAS, ESTA, UK ETA and Canada eTA

Yes — every child traveling internationally requires their own individual travel authorisation, regardless of age. Whether you are planning a family holiday to Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada, the rule is identical across all four major electronic authorisation systems: there are no group applications, no family passes, and no exemptions based on age. A newborn requires the same pre-travel clearance as a teenager or an adult.

If your family holds passports from a visa-exempt country — such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, or any EU member state — this guide covers everything you need to know before departure: which authorisation applies to your destination, how long it remains valid, and what to verify for every member of your group.

Across all four major electronic travel authorisation systems currently in operation — the ETIAS for Europe, the ESTA for the United States, the UK ETA for the United Kingdom, and the Canada eTA for Canada — the answer is the same: yes. Every traveler, regardless of age, must hold a separate, individually approved authorisation linked to their own passport.

This is one of the most persistent misconceptions among families preparing for international travel. Many parents assume that a child listed on a booking confirmation, or traveling on the same reservation, is automatically covered by an adult's authorisation. That assumption is incorrect. Each passport requires its own application, and airlines verify authorisation status on a per-passport basis at check-in. If a single member of your group — including an infant — does not hold a valid authorisation, they will be denied boarding.

A parent or legal guardian can complete the application on behalf of a minor. The child does not need to submit anything themselves. What they do need, however, is their own valid biometric passport: an authorisation cannot be issued without one. If your child does not yet have a passport, that step must be completed before any travel authorisation application can be submitted.

The specific authorisation required depends entirely on your destination. Here is what applies for each system:

ETIAS for children — Traveling to Europe

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System is the mandatory pre-travel clearance for visa-exempt foreign nationals traveling to any of the 30 participating European countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands. With its phased rollout leading into late 2026, every traveler from a visa-exempt country — including children and infants — must hold an approved ETIAS before boarding once the system is fully active. Citizens of EU member states, EEA nations, and Switzerland are exempt. Children who hold a valid residence permit issued by a participating European country are also exempt.

ESTA for minors — Traveling to the United States

he Electronic System for Travel Authorization is a mandatory pre-travel clearance for nationals of the approximately 40 countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), including the UK, most EU member states, Australia, and Japan. It has been in force since 2009. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is explicit: all travelers, regardless of age, must obtain individual ESTA approval before departure. This includes babies and toddlers.

UK ETA for children — Traveling to the United Kingdom 

The UK Electronic Travel Authorisation is the pre-travel clearance introduced by the Home Office for non-visa nationals traveling to the United Kingdom. Now fully enforced for all eligible visa-exempt travelers, every individual — adults and children alike — must hold a valid UK ETA before boarding any carrier bound for the UK. British and Irish citizens are exempt, as are individuals already holding valid UK immigration permission.

Canada eTA for minors — Traveling to Canada

The Electronic Travel Authorisation is mandatory for all visa-exempt foreign nationals traveling to Canada by air, including children. It applies not only to direct arrivals but also to passengers transiting through a Canadian airport en route to a third destination. Canadian citizens and US citizens are exempt. US Lawful Permanent Residents are also exempt but must carry both their national passport and their Green Card. Land and sea arrivals are not subject to the eTA requirement.

No. None of the four systems — ETIAS, ESTA, UK ETA, or Canada eTA — allows group or family applications that consolidate multiple travelers under a single authorisation. Each authorisation is electronically linked to a specific passport number, and that link is established at the point of application. There is no mechanism to add a dependent, a spouse, or a child to an existing approval.

In practice, this means that a family of four requires four separate applications, four separate approvals, and four separate reference numbers. When airlines perform digital verification at check-in, they query each passport individually against the relevant government database. A valid authorisation on one passport has no bearing on the status of another.

While a parent or legal guardian can submit applications on behalf of their children — and managing them within a single session is straightforward — each submission is processed independently. Verify each approval individually before departure rather than assuming the process is complete once the adult applications have been confirmed.

Validity periods differ across the four systems, but all share one critical characteristic: the authorisation is fundamentally tied to the specific passport used during the application. If that passport is renewed, lost, or replaced for any reason, the associated authorisation becomes void immediately — regardless of how much time remains in the original validity window.

The standard validity periods are as follows:

This passport-linked structure has a particular impact on children's travel documents, which typically carry shorter validity periods than adult passports. A child's passport issued at age two may expire before the standard authorisation window closes — meaning the authorisation effectively expires with it. Whenever a child's passport is renewed, a fresh authorisation application must be submitted before the next trip, even if the previous authorisation appears technically active.

Yes. There is no minimum age threshold for any of the four systems. A newborn, an infant, and a toddler are subject to exactly the same requirements as an adult traveler. US Customs and Border Protection states explicitly that all travelers, regardless of age, must obtain individual ESTA approval. The same principle applies under ETIAS, the UK ETA scheme, and the Canadian eTA framework.

This is among the most common sources of last-minute disruption for families. Parents occasionally assume that an infant who does not occupy a separate seat — or who is listed as a lap child on a booking — is not subject to the same entry requirements as other passengers. Airlines, however, verify authorisation status against the passport of every traveler on the manifest, including the youngest.

To apply on behalf of an infant, a parent or legal guardian simply completes the standard digital application using the child's own passport details. The process is identical to an adult application. The only prerequisite is that the infant holds a valid biometric passport in their own name. While rules for infant passport photos vary by country, you can secure an emergency travel document or standard minor passport from birth.

The consequences are immediate and, in most cases, unavoidable on the day of travel. Airlines are required to verify the travel authorisation status of every passenger before issuing a boarding pass. If a valid authorisation is not found for one member of your group, that individual will be denied boarding — regardless of the circumstances, and regardless of whether the rest of the group holds valid authorisations.

There is no airport counter where a missing authorisation can be issued or corrected on the spot. The authorisation must be approved before departure, and the processing systems — while fast for most applications — cannot guarantee instant approval in every case. Applications flagged for manual review can take up to 72 hours for the ESTA, up to 96 hours for the Canada eTA, and potentially longer for ETIAS in complex cases.

The practical safeguard is straightforward: apply for every member of your group — adults and children — at the same time, as soon as your travel plans are confirmed. Create an individual checklist for each traveler, confirm each approval number separately, and cross-reference each authorisation against the specific passport that will be used at check-in.

Managing multiple travel authorisation applications simultaneously — each linked to a different passport, each requiring exact data entry — leaves a meaningful margin for error. A single transposed digit in a passport number, a name that does not match the physical document exactly, or a non-compliant infant photo can result in a boarding denial that disrupts the entire group.

At Service eVisa, our team of travel specialists manually reviews every family application for accuracy, typos, and completeness before it is formally transmitted to the relevant government authority. Our platform is available in multiple languages, removing the risk of misinterpreting complex legal or suitability questions — a particular concern when completing declarations on behalf of minors.

By routing your family's files through Service eVisa, you ensure a flawless submission, giving you the peace of mind that every single dossier has been verified by an expert before reaching the government database.