How Will ETIAS Affect Foreign Citizens in Europe?

The new ETIAS system will soon be launched, which will mean that citizens from 60 countries will be eligible to apply for an ETIAS for travel authorization in Europe. Historically, citizens from those 60 countries could visit the Schengen zone without a visa but from the end of 2022, citizens of those 60 countries are required apply for an ETIAS, while citizens of other countries not on the list will need to apply for a visa.

The ETIAS system is being introduced to improve security around the Schengen Zone, by monitoring who is entering the area and performing prescreening checks to assess whether travelers represent a risk to Europe and European citizens.

The ETIAS system is being introduced to improve security around the Schengen Zone, by monitoring who is entering the area and performing prescreening checks to assess whether travelers represent a risk to Europe and European citizens.

People who have European nationality will not be required to apply for ETIAS but some foreign citizens living in European may need an ETIAS to travel to other countries. Residents of a European country will not be required to apply for ETIAS to remain living in the country, the ETIAS system is only related to travel in Europe.

Foreign nationals who currently require a Schengen visa to travel to other European countries are likely to still need to apply for the Schengen visa and therefore would not require an ETIAS.

However, residents who could travel to European countries without a Schengen visa may now be required to have an ETIAS if they want to visit other European countries other than their country of residence. Whether or not they require an ETIAS depends on which nationality they are and what the national visa regulations are when the ETIAS system officially launches.

Some of the details regarding visa waiver regulations have not been fully confirmed yet, especially in circumstances such as the UK, which has left Europe and details for this are still being defined, so UK citizens may require an ETIAS when the system is formally introduced.

Over the next few months, in the lead up to the ETIAS system coming into effect, the full details for requirements will become available and foreign citizens living in Europe will be able to check whether they need to apply for ETIAS to visit other countries in Europe.

For citizens who will need to apply for ETIAS to travel to European countries, the process is much simpler than applying for a Schengen visa. Applying for the ETIAS requires the applicant to complete a short online form, which should only take around 20 minutes to fill in all of the details.

Once the application is submitted, the ETIAS gets processed quickly and will be ready to use much faster than applying for a visa, which can take months. With an ETIAS, the holder can visit different countries around Europe, whereas with a visa, it will be specific to the country that you apply to visit.