ETIAS Visa Waiver for Travelers from Micronesia

The 115,000 citizens of Micronesia are a small but significant sector of the 1.4 billion people of the 60 ETIAS countries who are set to have to follow new rules to enter the Schengen area from 2023.

Substantial progress has been made by the EU to set up the new visa waiver program, including all of the technology being in place as of August 3rd. Delays have been reported though, with the EU Observer reporting potential understaffing on the border and in administrative sectors which would make the enforcing of a visa waiver scheme impossible. Regardless of their progress and their schedule, the EU is still set to have ETIAS in place by the start of 2023.

Learn below all the travel rights granted by the ETIAS visa waiver, and the ETIAS application process that all short-term travellers from Micronesia must abide by.

Short-term tourism and travel is the ultimate difficulty for nations and commissions who are attempting to secure their borders. With 299 million nights a year spent in Spanish accommodation alone, there are simply too many incomers to screen them all. That was until recently when AI technology that could effectively screen all incomers was invented.

The task is still far from easy, but it must be done for the EU to be protected. We live in an age where terrorist attacks pose an existential risk to the EU’s safety, such as the 2017 Barcelona attacks which killed 24 people.

For the 95% of Micronesians who pose no threat to the EU and its citizens, following the new ETIAS rules will be more an inconvenience than something that will tangibly stop them from entering the Schengen area. They must only ensure they complete their ETIAS application correctly to secure entrance rights.

Complications can be expected with any new visa waiver system and Micronesians should expect delays. As a worst-case scenario, if the EU requires more information from them, their application will take up to 4 weeks to process.

Complications will also be present once the Micronesians have their ETIAS visa waiver and are travelling. As part of the ETIAS entrance policy, biometric checks will be carried out on all incoming Micronesians. This will substantially extend waiting times on the border, especially if the EU is unable to deal with their staffing issues.

The visa gives Mexicans the right to visit all of the ETIAS European countries listed below.

This list features every one of the 26 official and defacto Schengen states, and therefore the borders for ETIAS are the same as the Schengen borders. If a Micronesian is attempting to travel to a European nation outside of this area, they must make the proper arrangements with that nation before travelling.

The ETIAS application form necessitates the answering of many questions. When Micronesians applying for ETIAS, they will need to use the ETIAS application form to provide their personal information, and queries about the kind of risk they might pose if allowed into the EU. The latter are much more serious questions and they are…

Other than these questions, Micronesians will have to provide minimal documentation in their ETIAS application. The documentation will be the Micronesians passport and their proof of address.

The Covid-19 pandemic has ended any chance of open borders for the foreseeable future. Nations are terrified of the next global pandemic, and they are eager to limit the risk that incomers pose to the public health of their citizens. The ETIAS visa waiver is one such system, featuring measures to restrict the travel of Micronesians with infectious diseases into the EU.

The more obvious threat is that of international crime and terrorism, and ETIAS has more tangible measures in place to stop individuals that pose this risk. They have released information on exactly which criminal and terrorist threats that ETIAS will stop. For individuals with a serious criminal conviction, a period of 15 years will be in place before it is cleared. The period is 10 years longer for individuals with terrorist convictions.

An appeals process is in place which could help some Micronesians to successfully obtain ETIAS visa waivers. For this aspect of the ETIAS application, Micronesians should supply any required documentation within 96 hours, and give four weeks for the EU to come back with a response.