ETIAS Explained: Who Needs It and When It Starts

ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, is the online travel authorization you will need before visiting 30 European countries if you come from one of 59 visa-exempt countries and territories. As of 23 October 2026 it is not operating and takes no applications. Here is where the start date stands, who will need ETIAS, what it costs, how long it lasts and how it differs from the EES border registration.

What ETIAS is: a travel authorization, not a visa

ETIAS is a travel authorization for visitors who do not need a visa, and it is linked to one passport. You fill in an online form, pay EUR 20 and, in most cases, get an answer within minutes, with no consulate visit, no fingerprints and no health questions. It covers short stays, normally up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and business meetings and courses shorter than 90 days count as short stays.

ETIAS works much like the US ESTA authorization, but it costs EUR 20 against the ESTA’s $40.62 (as of October 2026) and can last up to 3 years instead of 2.

It is not a visa. ETIAS does not let you work in Europe, which needs a work visa, or study for more than 90 days, which needs a student visa. Longer stays usually need a long-stay visa from the country concerned.

ETIAS adds one item to the documents a European trip needs and replaces none of them. Border guards still check your passport, can ask for supporting documents each time you cross, and refuse entry to anyone who does not meet the entry conditions. A valid ETIAS does not guarantee entry.

ETIAS start date: where it stands in October 2026

The official ETIAS site states that ETIAS is currently not in operation and that no applications are being collected. In April 2026 the European Commission said ETIAS was scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026, with the exact date to follow. As of 23 October 2026 no date has been announced, and the EU promises several months of notice, so treat the last quarter of 2026 as a target rather than a start date.

Even after launch, ETIAS phases in over at least a year:

Phase	How long	What it means for you
Now (October 2026)	Until the EU announces a date, several months ahead	No applications anywhere, and nothing to do yet
Transitional period	6 months from launch, extendable by up to 6 months, renewable once	Apply, but travelers without ETIAS are not refused if they meet the other entry conditions
Grace period	6 months after that, extendable by up to 6 months	ETIAS is required, but a traveler on their first entry since the transitional period ended can still be let in without one
Full requirement	After the grace period	No valid ETIAS means refusal at the border, unless an exemption applies

The EES, the EU’s other new border system, was phased in too: it began in October 2025, rolled out over 6 months and has worked at every external border since 10 April 2026.

Who needs ETIAS

You will need ETIAS if 3 things are true: you are not an EU national, your nationality does not need a visa for short stays in the 30 ETIAS countries, and you do not hold certain EU residence cards or permits, such as a residence document under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. The EU puts this at 59 countries and territories and about 1.4 billion people, from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico to Brazil, Argentina, Israel, the UAE and Ukraine.

Every traveler needs their own ETIAS, children included, because the system takes no family or group applications. If your nationality needs a Schengen visa, ETIAS does not apply to you: you apply to a consulate with a full visa application file, and a valid visa covers the trip with no ETIAS on top.

Your situation	ETIAS?	What covers you
US, UK, Canadian or Australian citizen on a 2-week holiday in Spain	Yes	An ETIAS linked to your passport
Child under 18 or traveler over 70 from a visa-exempt country	Yes, with no fee	Their own ETIAS
Family member of an EU national who qualifies for family-member status	Yes, with no fee	An ETIAS, plus proof of the family tie at the border
EU citizen	No	Your EU citizenship
Holder of a Withdrawal Agreement residence document (not one issued by Cyprus) or a similar EU residence card or permit	No	That residence document
National of a country that needs a Schengen visa	No	A Schengen visa
Serbian, Georgian or Ukrainian citizen without a biometric passport	No ETIAS possible	A Schengen visa
Working in an ETIAS country, or studying there for more than 90 days	No	A work or student visa

ETIAS passport requirements

Whatever your nationality, your passport must be less than 10 years old and valid for more than 3 months after the day you plan to leave the ETIAS countries, unless you qualify as the family member of an EU national.

Citizens of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia can use ETIAS only with a biometric passport, and citizens of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine only with a biometric passport that meets ICAO standards. Any other passport from those countries means a Schengen visa. Hong Kong and Macao travelers need the Special Administrative Region passport, and a Taiwan passport must include an identity card number.

The 30 ETIAS countries

ETIAS will apply in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Ireland is not one of them, and neither is the UK: a visa-exempt traveler who adds London to the trip usually needs a separate UK ETA for that leg, since ETIAS covers none of it. Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are not on the list either; the official site lists them separately as microstates, and their nationals do not need ETIAS.

Cyprus counts its days separately. In the EU’s own example, a traveler who spends 30 days in Malta and Greece can then spend up to 90 days in Cyprus, and still has 60 days left for the other ETIAS countries.

ETIAS cost: EUR 20, and who pays nothing

ETIAS will cost EUR 20 per application, paid by card. The Commission announced the rise from EUR 7 to EUR 20 on 17 July 2025, to cover running costs and inflation.

Applicants under 18 or over 70 on the day they apply pay nothing, and so do family members of EU nationals who qualify for family-member status. They still need an ETIAS of their own.

A friend, a relative or a travel agency can apply for you if you both sign a declaration of representation. Anything charged above EUR 20 goes to the intermediary, which files the application on the same official site.

How long ETIAS lasts and how long you can stay

An approved ETIAS lasts up to 3 years or until the passport you applied with expires, whichever comes first, and a new passport needs a new ETIAS. Within that time you can enter as often as you like, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the ETIAS countries, and the ETIAS must stay valid for your entire stay.

Carry the passport you used in the application. Travel on a different one and you will be refused boarding and entry.

This is an invented sample, not a real family. The Nguyens live in Melbourne and plan 16 days in Italy and Austria once ETIAS applications open. Each of them applies separately.

Traveler	Age when applying	Passport expires	Fee	ETIAS lasts
Minh	46	In 7 years	EUR 20	3 years
Lan	44	In 20 months	EUR 20	20 months, until her passport expires
Kim	16	In 2 years	EUR 0	2 years
Bao, Minh’s father	71	2 months after the return flight	EUR 0	3 years on a new passport: the old one must be valid more than 3 months after he leaves, so he renews it first

Total: EUR 40 for 4 travelers. When Lan renews her passport, her old ETIAS ends with it, and the next trip needs a new application and another EUR 20.

How to apply for ETIAS once applications open

There will be one official website, europa.eu/etias, which forwards to travel-europe.europa.eu, plus the official ETIAS mobile app. No ETIAS application can be filed before the start date, so a payment taken for one today buys nothing from the EU. Once it opens, the EU advises getting your ETIAS before you buy tickets or book hotels.

You name the first country you plan to stay in, but once approved you can change plans and travel to any of the 30. The form comes in the 24 official EU languages plus Norwegian and Icelandic, answers must use the Latin alphabet, and an unfinished draft is deleted after 48 hours.

Apply for ETIAS in 7 steps, once it opens

1. Wait for the EU to announce the start date and open applications.
2. Open the official ETIAS website at europa.eu/etias or the official ETIAS app.
3. Check your passport against the 10-year and 3-month rules above.
4. Enter your names, date and place of birth, sex, nationalities, home address, parents’ first names, phone number and an email address you can access yourself.
5. Add your passport details, education and occupation, and your first intended country and address, then answer the questions on criminal convictions, travel to war or conflict zones and recent orders to leave a country.
6. Pay EUR 20 by card, unless you are under 18, over 70 or a qualifying family member of an EU national.
7. Keep the application number from the confirmation email, and wait for the decision email before you buy tickets.

ETIAS processing time, refusals and appeals

Most applications are expected to be processed within minutes. The rest get a decision within 96 hours, or 4 days. If you are asked for more information or documents, you have 10 days to send them, and the wait can stretch by up to 14 days. An interview, at the consulate nearest your home or online, can take it to 30 days, with a decision within 48 hours after the interview.

A refusal comes by email with the reasons, how to appeal, the authority that decided and the time limit for an appeal. If you have been refused but must travel for a funeral, a court date or medical reasons, you can ask for an ETIAS with limited validity.

ETIAS vs EES: what each one does

The EES, the Entry/Exit System, is the other half of the EU’s new border checks, and it is already running. It records each entry and exit of non-EU short-stay visitors electronically, has worked at all external borders of the 29 countries using it since 10 April 2026, and replaced manual passport stamps there. Visa-exempt travelers give 4 fingerprints and a face image, visa holders a face image only, and children under 12 are not fingerprinted.

Pre-registration is optional. The Travel to Europe app lets travelers with a biometric passport enter their passport data and face image, and answer the entry questionnaire, within 72 hours before crossing. As of October 2026 that works when entering Sweden, and in Portugal for the questionnaire only.

Feature	ETIAS	EES	Schengen visa
What it is	Online travel authorization before the trip	Electronic record of each entry and exit	Visa issued by a consulate
Who it applies to	Visa-exempt visitors from 59 countries and territories	Non-EU short-stay visitors, with or without a visa	Nationals of countries that need a visa
Countries	30	29	The 29 Schengen countries
Status	Not operating, no applications	Fully running since 10 April 2026	Running
Before the trip	Apply online, EUR 20	Nothing; optional app pre-registration for Sweden and Portugal	Apply at a consulate or visa center, EUR 90 for adults
Biometrics	None	4 fingerprints and a face image if visa-exempt; face only for visa holders	10 fingerprints at the first application; under-12s exempt
How long it lasts	Up to 3 years or passport expiry	Records every crossing	The period printed on the visa