When Brian Clark budgeted for a recent marathon flight to New Zealand, he braced for the 18-hour time difference. He didn’t expect to pay a $70 entry fee.
“It was a surprise,” said Clark, a medical educator from Provo, Utah. The unexpected cost forced him to recalculate his travel budget.
New Zealand charges most visitors an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy of NZ$100 (about $56), plus NZ$23 (about $13) for an electronic travel authority, the NZeTA. Together, that can add up to about NZ$123, or $70, before a traveler has booked a room. The levy money goes to tourism and conservation, according to New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Governments have figured out that borders are a place to collect money. Britain now requires an Electronic Travel Authorisation from most visa-exempt visitors, including Americans, and it has raised the price twice since launch. The European Union’s ETIAS has been in development for years, but it no longer has a start date. Australia charges for one of its two electronic entry permits, but not the other. And the United States nearly doubled its own entry fee in September 2025.
Air travelers paid an estimated $60.4 billion in ticket taxes worldwide, according to a November International Air Transport Association study. That figure covers ticket taxes only; the entry and exit fees discussed here are charged separately.
Which Countries Charge Entry Fees?
- United Kingdom: The ETA is required for travelers from more than 80 countries and territories, including the U.S., at a cost of £20 (about $26) per person. The price went from £10 (about $13) at launch to £16 (about $21), then to £20 on April 8. It is valid for two years or until the passport expires, allows multiple entries and covers stays up to six months. Carriers have refused boarding to passengers without one since Feb. 25.
- European Union: ETIAS is expected to cost €20 (about $22) and cover 30 European countries. It will be valid for three years or until the passport expires. The €7 (about $8) figure still appearing on some official EU pages is more than a year old. No official launch date has been set.
- Australia: The permit you need determines the cost. U.S., Canadian and Japanese passport holders are eligible for the ETA, which carries a A$20 (about $14) app service charge. Many European passport holders are eligible for the free eVisitor; some nationalities, including British citizens, are also eligible for the ETA.
- United States: The Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, went from $21 to $40 on Sept. 30, 2025, under the budget reconciliation law. It now costs $40.27, after a 27-cent inflation adjustment took effect Jan. 1. The fee for an I-94 at a land border rose from $6 to $30 on Sept. 30, 2025, the same day as the ESTA increase.
Andy Abramson, a communications strategist and seasoned international traveler, has been surprised by several of these fees.
“What struck me was how normalized these pre-travel payments have become,” Abramson said. “You can’t even board without first paying for digital permission to arrive. It adds another administrative and financial layer to what used to be a fairly frictionless process.”
Exit fees are less common than travelers assume. Indonesia, for example, charges tourists nothing to leave. The money comes out on arrival: 500,000 rupiah (about $28) for a visa, plus a tourism levy of 150,000 rupiah (about $8), or almost $40 per person.
Staying too long can get expensive. When the author lived in Bali, his brother overstayed his visa by a day and paid about $60. Indonesia fines overstayers 1 million rupiah (about $55) per day, collected at the airport before they can leave.
Watch Out for Fake Visa Sites
When governments roll out new digital entry systems, scammers follow. Third-party websites built to look like official government portals charge several times the official rate just to submit a simple form on a traveler’s behalf.
“Scammers are experts at purchasing domains that look official,” said Chris Bajda, an e-commerce entrepreneur who studies digital consumer behavior. “People who have experienced this know these websites mimic the official government portals closely.”
That happened to one of Clark’s colleagues, who clicked the first search result instead of going to the official government portal.
“He assumed the higher price meant expedited approval,” Clark said. He paid a markup and waited the same 72 hours as everyone else.
If this happens to you, dispute the charge with your card issuer. A billing dispute over a service that was not delivered as described is one consumer protection that may help.
Where Do the Fees Go?
Jason Boertje, an expert on outdoor tourism and frequent international traveler, has a test for judging entry fees: They should be legally tied to a purpose, audited and traceable to specific services, such as trails, rangers or waste systems.
“You should be able to see a public breakdown of allocations, a named agency in charge, and audits or third-party oversight,” Boertje said. “When revenue disappears into a general budget and reporting is vague or nonexistent, it reads like a cash grab.”
Antoinette Leon, chief operating officer at ItsEasy.com Passport & Visa Services, said these small fees, multiplied by millions of visitors, generate steady income. Foreign visitors do not vote in the countries collecting them.
“That makes tourism micro-taxes politically attractive,” Leon said. “In some countries, the funding is legitimate and transparent. In others, the money simply flows into general revenue.”
Robert McIntosh, managing director of Interski Holidays, a U.K.-based group tour operator, has watched pay-to-play spread in Italy, where several cities raised their overnight tourist tax again this year.
“We ultimately see it all as little more than stealth taxes,” McIntosh said.
Countries can charge for checking passports and running a border. Some use the proceeds to fund conservation work. New Zealand publishes accounting of its spending, the article reports. But when a fee disappears into general revenue with no public accounting, travelers have no way to know what the money bought.
Before dismissing the practice, look at your own country’s fees. A visitor from Madrid or Tokyo pays $40.27 for permission to fly to Chicago, up from $21 a year ago, and $250 more if a visa is involved. The border has become a revenue line almost everywhere.
What to Know About ETIAS
ETIAS was supposed to start in the last quarter of 2026. The European Union removed that window from its official site over the summer, and eu-LISA, the agency building the system, concluded internally that a 2026 launch is not feasible. The EU says it will announce a specific date several months before the launch.
Nobody is collecting ETIAS applications now. Any site claiming it can submit an ETIAS application today is not the official ETIAS application system.
When the system starts, the €20 (about $22) fee is expected to be waived for travelers under 18 and over 70, though they will still need an approved authorization. Most applications are expected to be decided within minutes; some could take up to four days or longer if the EU requests documents.
No one will be turned away for lacking an ETIAS during the first six months, and first-time arrivals will remain exempt for six months after that. Full enforcement is unlikely before late 2027. Travelers should apply before booking anything they cannot cancel; the name, passport number and birth date must match the booking.
One European requirement is already in effect, and travelers sometimes confuse it with ETIAS. The Entry/Exit System has been running at every Schengen border since April 10. It is free, but collects fingerprints and a facial image the first time a traveler enters.
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate and journalist who founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit that helps solve consumer problems.
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