A €7 online travel authorisation scheme affecting Britons and many others visiting the EU is not expected to fully come into force until at least October 2026, according to the latest information from Brussels.
And there will be a period of tolerance after that, meaning that it will likely not be obligatory until April 2027 at the earliest.
It comes as a similar scheme by the UK comes into force for EU citizens next month.
Read more: Applications for UK ETA to open - what does this change for people in France?
A phased rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES) digital borders scheme has now been broadly accepted by EU chiefs, aiming at an October 2025 start - and the Etias scheme for online pre-approval to enter the EU’s Schengen area is linked to it.
EES is now expected to be ‘phased in’ over six months, with Etias launching six months after it is fully in place, which is to say October 2026 at the earliest.
However, travellers who do not have an Etias authorisation in place when the system first comes online – expected in the ‘last quarter of 2026’ – will benefit from a transition period of at least another six months and will not be refused entry even if they have failed to obtain the authorisation.
Other rules around the Etias scheme remain the same: it will apply to nationals of all countries that currently benefit from visa-free access to the EU for short-stays (90 out of a rolling 180 days), cost €7, and provide visa-free access for up to three years.
Alongside Britons, Americans, Canadians, Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders, nationals of many other countries in South America and Asia are affected.
Read more: What is the EU’s Etias visa waiver scheme?
Phased rollout of EES and Etias
Updates to the rollout of the EU’s digital border system the Entry/Exit System (EES) have led to the current proposed timeline.
The EU has agreed to a ‘progressive launch’ of the EES, hoped to come into force in October 2025, it recently announced.
Read more: App to ease new EES border control checks is now ready - how it will work
It will take six months to be fully operational (so, by spring 2026, mostly likely April), and then around six months afterwards (October 2026 at the earliest) Etias will come into force.
The information collected by EES will complement Etias applications, connecting the two schemes.
However, the first six months, at least, after the launch of Etias will be a ‘transition period’ with travellers being asked to apply, but with no enforcement.
If travellers arrive at the border and have not applied for Etias authorisation, they will still be allowed to enter.
Even so, the EU says that people travelling into the EU ‘should’ still apply at this early stage, plus the document lasts for three years, making subsequent journeys smoother.
Once the six months are up – scheduled to be in April 2027 – Etias will be ‘fully operational’.
However, after this a ‘grace period’ of at least another six months will follow, whereby people who turn up at the border without an Etias – and who did not previously enter the EU during the transition period – will still be allowed in.
Entry will, however, be denied to those who already benefited from tolerance during the transition period, and who try to enter again without having an Etias.
Border guards will be able to use the EES to check entry and exit dates into the bloc, showing if a person had entered during the transition period and not applied for Etias on that occasion.
By October 2027 at the latest all non-EU/EEA/Swiss travellers will require Etias authorisation to enter the bloc, unless they have a valid visa or residency permit.
Is this timeline set in stone?
The EES – and in turn Etias – has seen and missed several supposed launch dates, the most recent of which was in November 2024.
The bloc is working hard to meet the latest deadline, but it is not yet set in stone, and depends on a new EU regulation being passed into law to allow the ‘progressive start’ and it also requires three states - including France - which previously failed to confirm readiness, to declare they are now ready.
The EU council and commission both back the progressive start approach – which will allow for countries with systems not yet fully in place to benefit from more time to set up border points to manage both the EES and Etias. A new regulation is now being worked on between the council and the EU parliament.
In October 2025 – the proposed new start of EES regulations – only around one in ten border crossing points will need to have the systems in force.
It means particularly busy crossings – including French border points in the UK at Dover, Folkestone and St Pancras where checks will need to be carried out – may not be initially impacted.
Read more: Port of Dover expects new EU border controls to be in place by November 2025
It will also allow for teething problems with the system to be ironed out before full implementation.
The EU parliament must still officially approve the idea of a phased rollout, however this is likely to be obtained.
The plans are most likely set to be finalised before summer, with the official launch date being announced after.
