The Home Office is expected to confirm later today that children from the age of eight returning to the UK will be able to use e-gates at airports and other re-entry points from 8 July.
The Government department told Travel Gossip that it will be making an official announcement this afternoon.
It is expected to say that children must be at least 120cm (3ft 11in) tall to be seen by the biometric scanners and must be accompanied by an adult.
E-gates are installed across 13 airports in the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted.
They are also available in Eurostar terminals in Brussels and Paris.
Currently, the minimum age for e-gate use is 10.
