ETIAS Visa Waiver for Travelers from Tuvalu

Rising sea levels threaten daily life for the 10,000 residents of the volcanic Oceanic nation of Tuvalu. However, the ETIAS visa waiver scheme will allow them to maintain the normality of trips to Europe. This visa waiver system gives Tuvaluans the right to short-term travel in the Schengen zone without a full visa.

This article, along with ETIAS.org resources, will give Tuvaluans everything they need to know to maintain their right to travel in Europe.

The first thing to note is that an ETIAS visa waiver is only required for Tuvaluans entering the EU by plane. If they are entering the ETIAS Schengen zone countries by train from one of the Schengen area’s neighbors, they will only need a passport for entry. This is not a shortcut for Tuvaluans who cannot access an ETIAS visa waiver, because they will still need to arrange legal access to the Schengen neighbor.

If they enter in this way, they will also not be able to remain in the EU for longer than 90 days. The ETIAS visa waiver system is intended for short-term travel only. Any longer than that requires a full visa.

The final thing to note is that ETIAS will not be in place until January 1st, 2023. Tuvaluans may apply for their ETIAS visa waiver before then, but they will have no requirement to show one on entry.

In order to achieve the rights granted by the ETIAS visa waiver, Tuvaluans must first apply for it successfully. They can get the application form online, and must submit it via email to the ETIAS administration.

The first aspect of the application is the questions section, which determines how safe the Tuvaluan is for travel in the EU. This ETIAS requirement bases safety of the Tuvaluan in terms of the physical harm they might do to someone, the crimes they may commit, and the diseases they might pass onto European citizens.

The EU has created questions on the applications which tangibly test if a Tuvuluan fits this requirement of safety. To check if they will cause harm to other Europeans, it will ask for their affiliations to terrorist groups and if they have previous terrorist convictions in the past 25 years. To test the criminality of a Tuvaluan, they will ask if the Tuvaluan has any affiliations with human trafficking groups and if they have any convictions in the past 15 years. Finally, to test the public health risk that a Tuvualuan poses, the ETIAS application asks if they carry any infectious diseases.

All answers given by Tuvuluans will be cross-checked with an array of databases. This includes the Interpol database, and the AI system carrying out the cross-checks is designed to leave no stone unturned. Therefore, it is imperative that Tuvaluans are honest on their applications whatever their circumstances.

The documentation required is simpler, fulfilling the more basic requirement that the Tuvaluan has a legal right to travel and exists stably in Tuvalu. This is achieved with a copy of the Tuvaluans biometric passport and proof of address.

ETIAS also requires assistance from the Tuvaluan to create a unique ETIAS visa waiver electronic document. They must provide a unique digital photograph of themselves that will be featured on the application form.

Sometimes, the ETIAS requirements will not be fulfilled by the completed ETIAS application alone. Discrepancies may arise at any point when ETIAS administrative workers are deciding whether it is appropriate to grant an ETIAS visa waiver to an individual. The additional documentation or clarification required will be detailed via email for the Tuvaluan applicant. They will have 10 days to fulfill the requirement if their application is still open, or 96 hours if the issues are serious enough to warrant rejection. The latter will make up roughly 5% of Tuvaluan applications.

At times, even this will not be enough. In this case, the Tuvaluan will be given a date and time for an interview, where they will have the opportunity to clear up the issue. They must attend this interview, and failure to do so will result in a rejection.

An ETIAS visa waiver gives Tuvaluans access to all the Schengen agreement nations. This includes those that are not a part of the EU, but are in the EFTA agreement or are microstates with a geographic position within the Schengen zone.