UK eGates With Children: Age, Height and Family Order

A child can normally use a UK eGate only if every condition applies: they are at least 8 years old, at least 120cm tall, hold an eligible biometric passport, and meet the citizenship or immigration-status route. Travellers aged 8 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. At the gate, only one person at a time may pass.

Check every eligibility condition

For the valid-status route, the Border Force guidance updated 6 October 2026 names nationals of EU countries, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA. Nationality alone is not the whole test: the page pairs that list with valid immigration status. If a child is too young, too short, lacks the biometric passport, or does not fit a listed status route, follow border staff instructions for the staffed process.

Worked sequence with one adult

One adult is travelling with two eligible children aged 10 and 14, both at least 120cm tall. The adult uses the eGate first. The children then go through individually, because only one person at a time may use a gate. This follows the official direction that an adult travelling alone with children under 18 should go first.

Do not send the children ahead of the sole adult. If either child fails a check or is redirected, follow the Border Force instructions rather than trying to reunite by crossing back through a gate.

Worked sequence with two adults

For two or more adults travelling with children, the published order is Adult 1, child or children, final adult. Adult 1 passes first; each eligible child follows one at a time; Adult 2, or the final adult in a larger group, passes last. This places an adult on each side while the children move through.

Ordinary eGates are not the contactless pilot

The newer contactless system verifies identity without requiring an eligible passenger to place a passport on the eGate reader. It does not remove the need to travel with a valid passport, and the contactless travel factsheet updated 6 October 2026 says ordinary eGate eligibility remains unchanged.

The rollout initially applies only to British citizens. A small number of contactless gates are currently at East Midlands Airport, with a phased rollout named for other UK airports and availability at all UK airports expected by early 2027. That is a rollout expectation, not a promise that your arrival gate will be contactless. Families should therefore prepare for the ordinary passport-based eGate process.

Decide eligibility child by child before joining the queue. Age alone is not enough: height, biometric passport, accompaniment and citizenship or valid status can each change the answer.