EU further delays ETIAS travel system until 2024

Rob Gill

LONDON: The European Union has further delayed the implementation of its ETIAS travel system for non-EU visitors until 2024.

The Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs at the EU has quietly pushed back the launch date for ETIAS from November 2023 to 2024 in an update on its website. No reason was given for this latest delay.

“It is expected that the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be operational in 2024,” said the EU in its latest update.

ETIAS has suffered a series of delays in the past few years. The previous postponement, announced in August 2022, saw ETIAS’s starting date being pushed back by six months from May to November 2023.

Last month, the EU also postponed the launch of its new Entry-Exit System (EES) from May 2023 to a target date of “by the end of 2023”. EES will be used to register non-EU travellers when they arrive and leave the bloc.

Once ETIAS is in place, visitors 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 once granted, each ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the expiry date of the travel document. All travellers will have to apply for ETIAS authorisation, although those aged under 18 and over 70 will not have to pay the €7 fee.

Courtesy: businesstravelnewseurope