A Home Office travel document is a document that allows non-UK nationals to travel outside the UK if they cannot use or obtain a passport from their own country. A person can only apply for a Home Office travel document in certain special circumstances.

In the United Kingdom, a "travel document" typically refers to an official identification document issued by the government to individuals who are not able to obtain a passport from their own national authorities. This most commonly applies to refugees (under the 1951 UN Convention), stateless persons, or residents who cannot get a document from their country of origin. However, for most travelers, the "permission to travel" has moved into a digital era. As of February 25, 2026, the UK has fully enforced its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme. This is a digital "permission to travel" for non-visa national visitors (like those from the US, EU, and Australia) who do not need a full visa for short stays. For British citizens, the primary travel document remains the British Passport. A key update for 2026 is the transition to eVisas—a digital record of a person’s immigration status which replaces physical "vignette" stickers in passports. Essentially, in the modern UK border context, a "travel document" is less about a physical booklet and more about a verified digital record linked to your biometric data in the Home Office system.