ESTA for the United States, UK ETA for the United Kingdom, NZeTA for New Zealand, eTA for Canada, K-ETA for South Korea, eVisitor for Australia: behind these acronyms lie different rules, tricky forms and gate refusals that wreck a trip. Visamundi brings these programs together in a single journey, validates your file before the flight and keeps your authorisation up to date, across 9 programs and beyond.
Why an ETA
More and more countries are replacing the traditional visa with an electronic travel authorisation, or ETA. The principle: before you even board the plane, you apply online for the right to travel to a destination, your passport is checked remotely by the authorities, and the answer almost always comes back within minutes or hours. It is fast and paperless, but it is also misleading. Many travellers mistake this administrative green light for a visa, or assume a booking alone is enough. Others believe an authorisation obtained two years ago is still valid, or that a passport renewed in the meantime makes no difference. The result is families denied boarding on departure day, with no recourse and no refund on their tickets, over a formality that would have taken five minutes had it been anticipated. The confusion is just as costly the other way round: an ETA never replaces a visa. If your nationality genuinely needs a visa to enter, no travel authorisation will do — you then need an e-visa (India, Egypt, Vietnam…), which we handle on a dedicated page.
Each program has its own logic. The US ESTA queries several security databases and stays valid for two years; the UK ETA, rolled out gradually, now governs entry to the United Kingdom even for a simple airport transit; New Zealand's NZeTA comes with a tourist levy payable at the time of application; Canada's eTA attaches to the passport number, not the ticket, which complicates any change of document; South Korea's K-ETA and Australia's eVisitor each have their own eligibility criteria, validity periods and exclusion lists. Add to that the eligible nationalities that vary from one program to the next, the stay periods allowed at each entry, and the transit rules that catch out connecting travellers. Keeping up with all of this, while the rules often change without notice, is a full-time job that nobody wants to take on the night before departure.
Visamundi takes that work off your plate. We identify the authorisation required for your nationality and your precise itinerary, we complete the official form with the right information, we check the file for consistency before submitting it to the competent authorities, then we monitor its validity over time. If a rule changes or an expiry approaches, you are alerted in advance and the authorisation can be renewed automatically, without you having to think about it. For an individual traveller, it means the certainty of not missing a flight over a wrongly ticked box. For an airline or a booking platform, it means a reliable check built into the customer journey, at the scale of thousands of files. The traveller keeps their time, the company keeps control, and nobody discovers a problem at the check-in desk.
Programs covered
Each acronym hides its own rules. We bring them together in a single grid: the right document is identified for your nationality and itinerary.
Our setup
Broad program coverage, a check before the flight, constant monitoring and deep integration for travel players.
A single point of contact for all the major electronic travel authorisations, instead of a different official site and a new form to learn for every destination. We keep each program's rules up to date for you, from eligible nationalities to stay durations. You no longer have to work out which site is official or guess which document applies.
Every file is checked before submission, then rechecked as departure approaches. Our goal is simple: that you never discover a problem at the check-in desk. A wrong passport number, an inconsistent date or an expired authorisation are caught in time, while it is still possible to act.
ETA programs evolve fast: new eligible nationalities, new criteria, new levies, extension to new countries. We track these changes continuously and act before they penalise you. Where a lone traveller discovers a new rule at the airport, you are warned in advance and supported.
For travel professionals, the authorisation is checked at the right point in the customer journey. Our API and connectors integrate with both booking and check-in, without weighing down your funnel. You cut gate refusals, reassure your customers and turn a regulatory constraint into a value-added service.
How it works
No jargon, no official form to decipher: you give us your itinerary, we handle the rest.
You provide your nationality, destination and dates. We determine which authorisation is required, or whether none is needed at all.
The official form is completed with the right information, checked to avoid the errors that lead to refusal, then submitted to the authorities.
The answer almost always arrives within minutes or hours. We recheck the status before departure and send you a clear confirmation.
We monitor validity and rule changes. As expiry approaches, renewal is offered to you automatically.
The programs
An overview of the most requested programs and their usual processing times. Whatever your deadline, we take every file and submit it to the authorities as soon as possible; eligibility rules depend on your nationality.
Indicative times outside peak periods. Applying early leaves time to react if the authorities request additional information. Countries that require a genuine electronic visa (India, Egypt, Vietnam e-Visa…) are handled on our e-Visa page, distinct from the travel authorisations shown here.
Without support
The four incidents we see most often, all of which could have been avoided upstream.
Boarding denied at the gate
The authorisation was never applied for, was refused or does not match the passport presented. The airline applies its rule and refuses to let you board, with no ticket refund.
Confusing an ETA with a visa
The traveller believes an ETA opens every door, or conversely starts a long visa procedure when a simple authorisation would have done. Both mistakes cost time and money.
Silent expiry
The ESTA lasts two years, other authorisations far less. No official alert is sent: the expiry is discovered at the airport, too late to react.
Rules that change without notice
A country extends its ETA to new nationalities, changes a criterion or adds a levy. Last year's information no longer applies, and the traveller is unaware.
Who it's for
Authorisation checked right at check-in, gate refusals avoided and passengers flowing smoothly at the desk, with status fed back in real time.
Authorisation-required destinations pre-flagged at booking, to inform the customer at the right moment and secure their reservation.
Group handling of authorisations for an entire party, file-by-file status tracking and an alert before every departure.
Validity tracking for each ESTA or eTA, an alert before expiry and automatic renewal, so you never have to think about it again.
Trust
A travel authorisation rests on sensitive information: passport, dates, itinerary. We handle it with the seriousness it demands.
See our privacy policySubmission via official channels
Every application is filed with the competent authorities through the proper channels, with no dubious middleman or counterfeit site.
Encrypted, minimised data
Passport information is encrypted, kept only as long as strictly needed for processing and monitoring, then erased.
Refund if refused
If the authorisation is refused by the authorities, our service fees are refunded and we point you to a consular visa where applicable.
GDPR compliance
The processing of your data complies with the GDPR: clear purpose, limited retention period, guaranteed rights of access and deletion.
We nearly missed our flight to New York: we thought a booking was enough. Visamundi got the whole family's ESTA within the hour and checked every passport before boarding. Never again without them.
FAQ
An electronic travel authorisation, or ETA, is an administrative green light you apply for online before departure that lets you travel to a destination for a short stay, usually tourism or business. It is tied to your passport, almost always clears within minutes or hours and requires no appointment or in-person filing of documents. A visa, by contrast, is a heavier procedure, often consular, which may require an in-person appointment, detailed supporting documents and several weeks of processing; it is required for longer stays, work, study or for certain nationalities. Confusing the two is the most common mistake, and it is costly both ways: believing an ETA replaces a visa leads to refusal at the border, while starting a visa procedure when an ETA would have done wastes weeks and money. That is why we first check which one applies to your exact situation, based on your passport, the length and the purpose of your stay, so we don't lead you into an unnecessary procedure. Note: some countries such as India, Egypt or Vietnam now issue their visa online as an e-visa. That is a real visa, not an ETA, and we handle it on our dedicated e-Visa page.
Processing is near-instant: in around 95% of cases the answer arrives in under 24 hours, and often within minutes. It is still possible for an application to be held for additional checks by the authorities, which can take up to several days and which nobody can speed up. That is exactly the scenario to avoid when the flight is in two hours. That is why we recommend applying as soon as your tickets are booked, and at the latest a few days before departure, to keep a margin in case additional information is requested. Whatever the departure date, we take every file and submit it to the authorities as soon as possible, with close follow-up until the green light is obtained.
If the authorisation is refused by the authorities, our service fees are refunded to you. An ETA refusal does not always mean entry is barred: it often simply indicates that a consular visa is required in your specific case, for example because of your nationality, a past travel history or the purpose of your stay. Where that applies, we point you to the right visa procedure and support you through it so you don't lose your trip altogether. The key thing is never to show up for boarding with a refused authorisation, because the airline will apply its rule and deny you boarding, with no refund on the ticket. Detecting the issue early, while there is still time to switch to a visa or adjust your plans, is precisely the value of going through us.
It depends on the program. The US ESTA is valid for two years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, and allows multiple entries over that period. Other authorisations are valid for shorter periods or for a limited number of entries, and some must be requested again for each new trip. One detail catches many travellers out: if you renew your passport, the authorisation tied to the old one usually no longer applies and must be requested again. We track the validity of every authorisation we process for you, take passport changes into account and alert you before expiry, with automatic renewal offered. So you don't have to keep your own calendar of deadlines or risk discovering an expired authorisation at the gate.
Several authorisations, including the ESTA, are multiple-entry: as long as they and your passport are valid, you can travel to the destination several times without reapplying for each journey, within the stay duration allowed at each entry. Other programs are single-entry. When applying, we always state the applicable regime so you know exactly what your authorisation covers.
The official site exists, but each program has its own, with its forms, its pitfalls and its rules that often change without notice. A typo, a misread box or a forgotten authorisation leads to denied boarding. Visamundi brings every program together in a single journey, checks your file for consistency before submission, rechecks it before the flight and then monitors its validity. You save time, avoid costly mistakes and benefit from a refund of our fees if refused.
Yes. Our API and connectors integrate directly into your customer journey: authorisation-required destinations pre-flagged at booking, ETA checked at check-in to avoid gate refusals, and the status of each file fed back to your systems in real time. The journey can be deployed white-label, under your brand. It is the same rigour as for our individual travellers, but at the scale of your volumes.
That is exactly what our regulatory watch covers. We continuously track each program's changes: extension to new nationalities, a changed criterion, an added levy or a new obligation on a given itinerary. The UK ETA rollout is a good example, having progressively brought new travellers into scope, including for simple transits. If a change affects your trip, you are informed proactively and we tell you exactly what to do, whether that means updating a detail, requesting a new authorisation or switching to a visa. You don't have to monitor each country's official announcements yourself, which is impossible to do reliably when several destinations are involved.
Travel with peace of mind
Give us your itinerary: we identify the required authorisation, build the file and check it before every departure.
