Europe's new travel pass, explained clearly.

British passport holders became third-country nationals in the EU's eyes after Brexit, and ETIAS is the new pre-travel authorisation they need before flying to any Schengen country. The scheme applies to every UK traveller on a British passport aged 18 or over, whether you are heading to Paris for a long weekend, driving through France to Spain, or catching a cruise that calls at Italian ports.

For UK travellers, ETIAS slots in alongside the 90-in-180-day rule that has governed Schengen stays since 2021. It does not grant you any extra time in Europe — it is simply the online permission slip that allows airlines and ferry operators to let you board. Second-home owners in France, Spain and Portugal, frequent Eurostar passengers and anyone with a French or Italian holiday booked in 2026 will need to apply once, pay the €20 fee, and link the authorisation to their current UK passport.

If you hold dual nationality with an EU country, travel on the EU passport and ETIAS does not apply. If you hold an EU residence permit or a long-stay national visa — common for UK retirees in Spain or France — you are also exempt from ETIAS for the country that issued it. Everyone else travelling on a British passport should apply well before booking non-refundable flights or accommodation.

US passport holders already know the drill from other countries — ETIAS is Europe's answer to the ESTA you fill in before flying to the United States. If you are an American citizen visiting any of the 30 participating European countries for tourism, business, a cruise, or a short medical stay, you will need ETIAS before you board your transatlantic flight.

The application asks for standard biographic information, passport details, your first intended country of entry, and questions about criminal history and prior immigration issues. The $7.50-ish equivalent fee (€20) is paid by card, and most American applicants receive an instant approval by email. A small percentage are flagged for manual review, which can take up to 30 days, so plan ahead rather than applying at the airport.

Your ETIAS is tied to the specific US passport you applied with. Renew your passport, damage it, or report it lost and the authorization becomes invalid — you will need to apply again. ETIAS covers multiple trips for three years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and each stay is still capped at 90 days within any rolling 180-day window across the Schengen area.

Canadian passport holders are visa-exempt for short stays in Europe, and ETIAS is the new online pre-clearance step they will need to complete before flying. It replaces nothing that exists today — Canadians have historically needed only a valid passport to enter the Schengen area — so ETIAS is a brand new requirement that applies to every eligible Canadian traveller.

The €20 fee, three-year validity, and 90-in-180-day limits are identical to the rules for US and UK travellers. Canadian snowbirds heading to Portugal or Spain for the winter, students on short exchanges, and anyone transiting through a Schengen airport on the way to a third country all need an approved ETIAS linked to the exact passport they are travelling on.

Dual Canadian-EU citizens can sidestep ETIAS by travelling on their EU passport. Canadians already holding a Schengen long-stay visa, French carte de séjour, Spanish NIE residency card, or similar EU residence permit are also exempt. Everyone else applying on a Canadian passport should allow at least a few weeks between application and departure so any manual review does not collide with a non-refundable flight.

ETIAS costs €20 per applicant aged 18 to 70. That is roughly £17 for UK travellers and around $22 for American travellers at current exchange rates, and the fee is the same whether you apply for a single trip or plan to use the authorisation across multiple visits during its three-year validity. The fee was raised from €7 to €20 in July 2025 to cover operational costs and align with equivalent schemes such as the US ESTA and UK ETA.

The fee is waived for anyone under 18 or over 70, but those travellers still need to submit their own application and carry an approved ETIAS to board. Family members cannot share a single application — each person, including infants, needs their own authorisation linked to their own passport. Payment is taken by card on the official EU portal at the time of application.

The fee is non-refundable, even if your application is refused. Beware of unofficial third-party websites that charge £30, £50 or more — they simply fill in the same free government form on your behalf. The only official domain is the EU's own travel-europe.europa.eu portal, and any site charging materially more than the €20 fee is a middleman, not a government service.

To apply for ETIAS, go to the official EU portal at travel-europe.europa.eu and start a new application. You will be asked for your passport details, date of birth, home address, occupation, first intended Schengen country of entry, and a short set of security and health questions. The form takes most applicants around ten minutes to complete on a phone or laptop.

Pay the €20 fee by card once you have reviewed your answers. The system will run automated checks against EU security, migration and health databases, and most applications receive an approval email within minutes. If anything is flagged, your application is passed to manual review and you may be asked for additional documents — this can take up to 30 days, or up to 60 days if more information is requested.

Keep the approval confirmation somewhere accessible on your phone, although in practice border staff look it up electronically using your passport number. The authorisation is bound to that passport, so if you renew or replace the document before you travel, you must submit a fresh application. Apply at least a month ahead of any non-refundable booking — not the night before your flight — so a manual review does not derail your trip.

An approved ETIAS is valid for three years from the date of issue, or until the passport it is linked to expires — whichever comes first. During that window you can make multiple trips to any of the 30 participating countries without re-applying, as long as each stay respects the 90-in-180-day Schengen rule.

The validity is strictly passport-bound. If you renew your passport, damage it, have it stolen, or report it lost, the ETIAS tied to that document is cancelled automatically and you must apply for a new one. Changes to your name, address, or email do not invalidate the authorisation, but you are expected to update your ETIAS record through the portal.

An ETIAS does not extend how long you can stay in Europe — it only controls whether you can board a flight. The 90-in-180-day limit applies to every non-resident visitor, is tracked automatically by the EES biometric system at every entry and exit, and overstays are flagged at the border regardless of whether your ETIAS is still within its three-year validity window.

ETIAS is expected to go live in the last quarter of 2026, following the phased EES rollout that started in late 2025. The EU has already moved the launch date several times, so the most reliable source is the official travel-europe.europa.eu portal and formal European Commission announcements rather than third-party blogs.

For roughly the first six months after go-live, ETIAS is in a transitional phase — airlines and border officers will check for it, but travellers without one will not be turned away automatically. After that grace window ends, ETIAS becomes mandatory. Your airline will refuse boarding at the departure gate if you do not have an approved authorisation linked to the passport you are travelling on.

Until the portal opens for real applications, no one can genuinely sell you an ETIAS — any website taking payments today is either a scam or an opportunistic middleman collecting details to re-submit once the system goes live. Bookmark the official EU portal, plan to apply as soon as it opens for your nationality, and allow at least a month between application and any non-refundable travel.