Why Your Travel Authorization Is Tied to Your Passport
Electronic authorizations are linked to one specific passport. Renew or replace that passport and the authorization no longer works — even if it has not expired.
Linked, not stamped
Modern authorizations are records in a government database rather than a stamp or sticker in the passport. At check-in and at the border, your passport is scanned and matched to that record. Because the record is tied to a specific passport number, a different passport will not match.
What counts as a change
Any new passport is a new document for this purpose: a routine renewal, an early replacement, a passport reissued after loss or theft, or one reissued after a name change. In each case the existing authorization stays attached to the old passport and cannot be transferred. The US ESTA, Canada's eTA, Australia's ETA, and the UK ETA all work this way, as ETIAS is expected to. For the ETIAS-specific version of this, see ETIAS and passport renewal.
Validity is "whichever comes first"
Each authorization carries its own term — two years for the ESTA and UK ETA, five years for Canada's eTA, twelve months for Australia's ETA, and an expected three years for ETIAS — but always subject to the passport it is linked to. The authorization ends when its own term runs out or when the passport expires, whichever happens first. A five-year eTA on a passport that expires in eighteen months is, in effect, an eighteen-month authorization. See how long ETIAS lasts for a detailed look at this rule for one system.
Before you renew
If a passport renewal is due, weigh it against upcoming trips. Renewing after you obtain an authorization means paying for and applying for a new one. If a renewal is unavoidable before travel, apply for the new authorization only once you hold the new passport, using the new passport's details.
Name and detail changes
The details on the authorization must match the passport presented at the border. A name change that produces a new passport requires a new authorization under the new name. A mismatch between the authorization and the passport is a common cause of problems at check-in.
Check the link before you fly
The single most useful pre-trip check is to confirm that the passport you will actually travel with is the one your authorization is linked to. If you have renewed since applying, apply again with the current passport well before departure.
Sources
The official application site for each authorization: US ESTA, Canada's eTA, Australia's ETA, the UK ETA, and the official ETIAS portal.
About this page
This page provides general information only and is not immigration or legal advice.