The Home Office has confirmed a new July passport rule at 13 airports across the UK. The age limit for passengers who can use UK eGates is changing from Wednesday, July 8, to include children aged eight and nine years old. According to the government, the policy to reduce the minimum age means up to 1.5 million additional children will be able to use the eGates, based on 2025 UK airport arrival figures, helping to speed up journeys for families this summer.
New eligibility criteria for eGates
Under the new rules from July 8, children aged eight and nine years old, who are at least 120cm (3ft 11in) tall and accompanied by an adult, will become eligible to use the eGates when returning to the UK from abroad. eGates are designed to speed up border checks through a digital passport scan, rather than a manual inspection. Children need to meet the minimum height requirement so they can be seen by the biometric scanners, which use facial recognition technology to check passengers’ identities against the photo in their passport.
Under current rules, passengers under the age of 10 are banned from using the gates, forcing families to instead queue for passport booths where manual inspections are carried out, which is generally a lengthier process.
Airports and coverage
The expansion of eGates to younger children will apply across 13 major airports across the UK and comes just in time for the peak summer holiday season. The Home Office said the expanded access, which begins from next Wednesday, will cover more than 290 eGates in the UK, as well as at ports in Brussels and Paris where juxtaposed checks take place.
Listed are the 13 UK airports where young children aged eight and nine returning to the UK will be eligible to use eGates from July 8:
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Cardiff
- East Midlands
- Edinburgh
- Gatwick
- Glasgow
- London City
- London Heathrow
- Luton
- Manchester
- Newcastle
- Stansted
Government and official reactions
Commenting on the change as it was announced last month, Minister for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp said: “Travel with young children can be stressful for parents. By expanding eGate access, more families can experience a swifter and smoother journey home – freeing up precious time this summer holiday season. We are delivering continued improvement to the passenger experience, while keeping our borders safe and secure.”
According to the government, using an eGate typically takes “just minutes” and the rule change this July will allow more people to use them, which in turn is expected to reduce queue times through passport control.
Eligible nationalities and broader border transformation
UK e-gates are available to Britons as well as nationals from the European Union, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the US. The Home Office added: “The announcement is the latest step in UK border transformation, delivering smooth journeys for passengers and protecting border security. As of February, the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme has been enforced, providing a fuller picture of those seeking to come to the UK. Almost 25 million (24.8 million) ETAs have been issued since their introduction. The ETA scheme takes us one step closer to a contactless border. Contactless border will see state‑of‑the‑art facial comparison technology verify identity, rather than needing to present a passport. This is all whilst keeping our country’s borders secure.”
