ETIAS, explained: Europe's €20 travel authorization and when it starts

ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, is an online permission that visitors who do not need a visa will have to get before traveling to most of Europe. It works much like the US ESTA: you fill in a form, pay a small fee and get an answer by email, usually within minutes. The permission is tied to your passport and lasts for several years.

It is not running yet. The EU has said many times that it will start "after EES", and the Entry/Exit System has been fully live since April 2026, but no ETIAS start date has been set.

Today, nobody needs an ETIAS. The official ETIAS website says the system is not in operation and that no applications are being collected. Visa-exempt visitors still enter the Schengen area with a valid passport, register in the Entry/Exit System at the border and follow the 90/180 rule, just as before.

The only official information is on the EU's ETIAS website and the European Commission's ETIAS policy page. Both carry the same line on timing: the specific start date will be announced several months before launch. We check both every month, and the date on the rule box above is our last check.

ETIAS will apply to nationals of the countries that can visit the Schengen area without a visa, for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180 days. The EU's list covers 59 countries and territories, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil. It is your nationality that counts, not where you live. Every traveler needs their own authorization, children included, although a parent or guardian applies for anyone under 18.

It will be required in 30 countries: the 29 members of the Schengen area plus Cyprus. That means the 25 EU countries in Schengen, now including Bulgaria and Romania, and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Ireland is not one of them. Cyprus has one quirk: days spent there are counted separately from the other 29, so a week in Cyprus does not use up your Schengen 90 days, and the reverse is also true.

UK citizens will need ETIAS, as they need EES registration now. The exception is UK nationals and their family members who are covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and hold the residence document issued in the uniform format by a country that uses ETIAS. That exemption does not work if the document was issued by Ireland or by Cyprus.

The official list of people who will not need ETIAS is long, but most travelers fall into a few groups. Citizens of any of the 30 countries, and of Ireland, are exempt, and so are dual nationals, as long as they travel on that European passport. Anyone holding a residence permit or residence card from one of the 30 countries is exempt, except that a Cypriot permit does not count. Holders of a Schengen visa or a national long-stay visa do not need ETIAS either, because they already have permission to travel.

Nationals of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, and holders of a Vatican passport, are exempt. So are holders of diplomatic, service and special passports, some crew members on duty and a few other specific categories set out on the official page. If you think one of these applies to you, read the EU's list in full before you travel rather than relying on a summary.

There are also a few people who normally need a visa but will be able to use ETIAS instead, such as some school pupils on an organized trip and some refugees and stateless people who live in, and hold a travel document from, a country that uses ETIAS or Ireland. These cases have conditions, and the EU advises checking with the consulates of the countries you plan to visit.

When ETIAS opens, you will apply on the official ETIAS website or the official ETIAS mobile app. You will need the passport you plan to travel with, a payment card and an email address you can access. The form asks for personal details, including your parents' first names, your education and job, your first intended country of stay, and questions about criminal convictions, travel to war or conflict zones and any recent order to leave a country.

The EU is clear about the passport rules. It must be valid for more than three months after you plan to leave and must not be older than ten years. Carry the same passport you applied with: if the passport number or name on your ETIAS does not match, the airline, bus or ferry company can refuse to board you and the border can refuse entry.

Look-alike websites are already selling "ETIAS applications", even though the system does not exist yet. The official FAQ allows a friend, relative or travel agency to apply for you with a signed declaration of representation, and says any fee on top of the €20 goes to that intermediary. Our advice is simpler: when it opens, apply yourself on the official site, which takes a few minutes, and make sure the email on the form is one you control.

The fee is €20 per application. It was originally set at €7, and the EU raised it before launch. Applicants under 18 or over 70 pay nothing, and family members of EU citizens who meet the conditions for that status are also exempt from the fee.

An ETIAS is valid for three years or until the passport you used expires, whichever comes first. If you get a new passport, you need a new ETIAS. While it is valid you can enter as many times as you want, as long as you stay within 90 days in any 180-day period, and you must hold a valid ETIAS for the whole stay, not just on arrival.

Most applications will be decided within minutes. If yours needs a manual check, the EU says you will get a decision within four days. That can stretch by up to 14 days if you are asked for more information or documents, or by up to 30 days if you are invited to an interview. Apply before you book flights or hotels, not the night before you fly.

ETIAS does not replace the border check. The airline or ferry company will check that you hold a valid ETIAS before you board, and at the border an officer will still look at your passport, may ask about the purpose and length of your trip and whether you have enough money, and decides whether to let you in. An ETIAS does not guarantee entry.

You will also still register in the Entry/Exit System, which records your face, fingerprints and the dates of each crossing, and counts your days automatically. The two systems do different jobs: ETIAS is permission to travel, EES is the record of when you came and went. Our EES guide covers what happens at the booth, and our guide to the 90/180 rule explains how the days are counted.

If an application is refused, the email will give the reasons, the authority that decided and how to appeal, with the time limit. Refusals are expected to be rare for ordinary tourists, but anyone with a criminal conviction or a past refusal of entry should apply early.

The Commission's ETIAS page does not give a target quarter. The official wording is that the EU will inform travelers of the specific start date several months before launch. When we checked on 1 October 2026 the EU had not confirmed any date.

The ETIAS start date has moved several times before, so treat anything you read about a specific month as speculation until the EU announces it on the official site. The EU has not yet set out publicly how the first months after launch will work, so check the official page again before you book a trip in 2027.

For UK readers heading the other way, the UK runs its own scheme, the UK ETA, which has nothing to do with ETIAS. For cover while you are away, see our travel insurance guides.