Birmingham Airport passport control

Coming off the aircraft at Birmingham, you follow the signs to passport control, and for most passengers that means the eGates: automated barriers that photograph you and match your face to the chip in your passport. You can use them with a biometric passport, the ones carrying the small camera symbol on the cover, from the UK, the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. There is no officer to see and no stamp in the passport; the gate opens and you walk through to reclaim.

The age floor dropped in 2026. Children aged 8 and over can now use the eGates, provided they are at least 120cm tall and travelling with an adult, and anyone between 8 and 17 must be accompanied. It is worth having children go through with a confident adult, since the gate needs a clear, still face to match. Everyone else, under-8s and anyone the gate cannot read, is directed to a staffed desk, covered further down. For where passport control sits in the arrivals flow, the airport map lays out the route from the pier to the exit.

The rule that catches people out in 2026 is the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation. If you do not need a visa to visit the UK, you very likely now need an ETA instead, and that includes citizens of the EU, the United States, Canada, Australia and most of the other eGate-eligible countries. British and Irish citizens do not need one. It costs £20, lasts two years or until your passport expires, and covers as many trips as you like in that window. Crucially, it is arranged online before you travel, through the official UK government service or its app, so it is a thing to sort when you book, not at the airport, and you should avoid the copycat sites that charge more for the same application.

The ETA is linked to your passport digitally, so there is nothing to print and nothing extra to show at the gate: if you have one and you are eGate-eligible, you use the gates exactly as before. Without a required ETA, an airline can refuse to board you at the far end, which is why this is worth checking weeks ahead rather than discovering at the departure airport. If you are unsure whether your nationality needs one, the position is set out on the UK government's ETA pages, and it is the sort of thing that changes, so check close to travel.

Not everyone can use the automated gates, and the alternative is a staffed Border Force desk where an officer checks your passport, and any visa or ETA, in person. That is the route for passports outside the eGate list, for children under 8, for anyone travelling on a visa, and for anyone the gate simply cannot match on the day. It is a normal part of arriving and nothing to worry about; the practical point is time, because the staffed desks are where queues gather, especially when several long-haul flights land together in the daytime bank from the Gulf.

If a slow border would put a tight onward connection or pick-up at risk, Birmingham sells a Premium Arrivals Fast Track, a £20 lane straight to passport control, though it is honestly only worth it for those who cannot use the free eGates or are landing at a peak; the Fast Track guide weighs that up. Families travelling with under-8s should plan for the desk rather than the gates, and allow a little longer than the eGate-eligible traveller beside them.

Through the border, you come down to baggage reclaim for the carousels. If a checked bag does not appear, deal with it here, before you leave, at the baggage desk, and the baggage guide covers how and who is responsible. With bags in hand, the last step is customs, the red and green channels, where what you may bring into the UK without paying duty is more generous than most people expect but has firm limits, especially on alcohol, tobacco and cash. The customs guide sets out the allowances and which channel to walk through.

Then you are out into the arrivals area, where anyone meeting you waits, a Costa and a currency desk sit landside, and the ways home begin. If someone is collecting you, the live arrivals board tells them when you have actually landed, and the transport hub covers every route out, from the free rail link to the taxi rank. For the whole terminal in one place, the facilities guide is the index.