ETIAS has no start date. As of 15 October 2026, the official ETIAS website says the system "is currently not in operation and no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point", and that the EU "will inform about the specific date for the start of ETIAS several months prior to its launch". No date has been announced, so ETIAS will not start in 2026. Until it does, visa-free travellers enter Europe exactly as they do today.

The site used to give the last quarter of 2026 as the target. That target was removed in July 2026, as iVisa News reported at the time.

What ETIAS is

ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) is an online travel authorisation for travellers who don't need a visa for Europe. It is not a visa. According to the official website:

  • Cost: EUR 20, with some travellers exempt from the fee.
  • Validity: 3 years, or until the passport you applied with expires, whichever comes first. A new passport needs a new ETIAS.
  • Stay: up to 90 days in any 180-day period, as often as you like. Cyprus counts its days separately.
  • Processing: most applications are processed within minutes. Otherwise you get a decision within 4 days, extendable by up to 14 days if more documents are requested, or up to 30 days if you are invited to an interview.

The 30 countries that will require it

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Ireland is not on the list.

Who will need ETIAS

Nationals of these 59 visa-exempt countries and territories, for short stays in any of the 30 countries:

Some nationals of visa-required countries will also use ETIAS instead of a visa: recognised refugees and stateless people who live in one of the 30 countries (or Ireland) and hold a travel document issued there, and pupils who live in one of these countries and travel on a school trip with a teacher, if they are exempt from the visa requirement for the countries they visit.

Who won't need it

  • Citizens of the 30 countries and of Ireland, including dual nationals, who must travel on that European passport.
  • Travellers who need a Schengen visa. ETIAS does not replace a visa. Citizens of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, India or the Philippines, for example, keep applying for a Schengen visa as before:

What to do now

  1. Nothing to apply for yet. The EU collects no ETIAS applications today. Any site that takes your money for an "ETIAS application" now is not the official service.
  2. Travel as usual. If your passport is on the list above, you can still enter the 30 countries visa-free, with your passport only.
  3. Watch the official site (travel-europe.europa.eu/etias). The EU will publish the start date several months in advance. When it applies, use only the official website or the official ETIAS mobile app.

Where the rules come from

Every fact about ETIAS in this article comes from the official ETIAS website run for the EU by DG Migration and Home Affairs and eu-LISA, read on 15 October 2026. Only the removal of the 2026 target comes from a press report (iVisa News). The passport pages for the 59 countries above show the 30 countries as visa-free today. When the EU announces a start date, we will add it to those pages as an upcoming change and update this article.