ETIAS Visa Waiver for Travelers from Nicaragua

2016 was a terrible year for terror attacks in Europe, with the Nice truck attack killing 86 people alone. In response to this growing existential threat, the European Commission announced they would be launching a new Visa waiver system to better vet short-term travellers from outside of Europe. The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) was created with the hope of making Europe a safer place.

Nicaragua has been announced as one of the 60 ETIAS Nations. Comes into effect in 2023, Nicaraguans will have to remember to apply for ETIAS 2022 in order to visit the Schengen area for periods of less than 90 days.

Learn everything Nicaraguans need to know about this new visa waiver system below.

Many nations already have a Visa waiver system in place. The USA was the first, ratifying its Visa waiver system in 1986. Times have changed, and in an age of accessible travel, Visa waiver systems come under the strain of high passenger volumes.

The existential threat of terrorism has forced the EU to tackle these challenges to screen the millions of tourists that apply for ETIAS and travel to the Schengen area from outside of the EU every year.

A key aspect of the effort will be leveraging artificial intelligence technology, which will handle a significant quantity of the administrative burden. The system will only alert authorities when it finds a traveller who poses a potential risk to the EU, allowing human staff to scrutinise far fewer cases.

Administrative staff are working hard to have the ETIAS system in place before the 2023 launch date. They have been largely successful, and the computer systems have been ready since August 3rd. Systems are not the only aspect of the ETIAS setup. The EU has had substantially more difficulties acquiring the necessary border and administrative staff to run ETIAS effectively.

The EU is still on track to have ETIAS the system in place for 2023. However, commentators are expecting teething difficulties, most notably with the biometric checks which will be required on the border. Nicaraguans must Factor this into their plans.

The visa gives Nicaraguans the right and ability to go to all the ETIAS Europe counties which are listed below.

When Nicaraguans apply for ETIAS, they will be showing the EU that they are a safe traveller. To make this assertion, Nicaraguans must provide the EU with the following background information.

Nicaraguans will supplement this serious background information with basic personal information such as their full name. This will be corroborated with essential personal documentation like a passport.

A rejected ETIAS application is not the end of the road for Nicaraguans. They can take advantage of the appeals process by providing any requested further documentation within 96 hours of receiving their rejection. After sending off the information, they must wait an additional four weeks for a reply.

An unignorable minority of Nicaraguans applications will be rejected: around 5%. Working out why an application has been rejected is easy as it will likely be one of these two reasons.

Firstly, an unforeseen purpose of ETIAS which was not intended when it was first introduced, was to protect public health. The EU is doing everything in its power to protect itself from the pandemic of the future. Information on any infectious diseases that a Nicaraguan might carry will be taken seriously and could lead to rejection of an application.

The EU originally intended for ETIAS was to reduce the number of travelers with a terrorist or criminal background. A recent announcement shows how serious the EU still takes this. They intend for terrorist offences to remain on the system for 25 years, and serious criminal offences for 15.

Most Nicaraguans must apply for ETIAS successfully in order to travel to the Schengen area for short-term travel. One of the few exceptions is for Nicaraguans who are entering the Schengen area by train. However, they will still have to arrange legal travel into the nation that borders the Schengen area that their travel is starting from.