The introduction of the European Union’s new ETIAS travel system for non-EU visitors has been pushed back by six months and is now due to launch in November 2023.
ETIAS, or the European Travel Information and Authorisation System to give the scheme its full title, was previously scheduled to start from May 2023. But the European Commission has confirmed on its website that ETIAS is now “expected to be operational in November 2023”.
Once ETIAS is in place, visitors aged between 18 and 70 from outside the EU who currently have visa-waiver status, including travellers from the UK and US, will have to apply for an ETIAS to visit any of the 26 countries in the Schengen Zone.
ETIAS applicants will have to pay a €7 fee through an official website or app, and the EU is promising a decision within four weeks, as well as offering the right of appeal for those travellers who have their applications refused. Once granted, each ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the expiry date of the travel document.
The system is designed to be similar to the US’s well-established Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which raised its fee from $14 to $21 earlier this year.
ETIAS has been in the planning for several years as a way to improve border security through the pre-screening of non-EU visitors, with the European Parliament giving its approval back in 2016.
The Schengen zone includes most EU nations as well as non-members Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
BTN Europe previously analysed how the ETIAS scheme could potentially cost UK-based companies €40 million per year.