ETIAS is still not live. The EU confirms the €20 travel authorisation will start in the last quarter of 2026, with a six-month grace period, now that the Entry/Exit System is fully operational at every Schengen border.
Cover image: european union flags outside an eu institution — photo by European Commission (Dati Bendo), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
ETIAS, the European Union's new travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, has still not launched, and travellers do not need it for summer 2026 trips. The European Commission's official position, published on its travel-europe.europa.eu portal, is that the European Travel Information and Authorisation System will start operations in the last quarter of 2026, with the exact date to be announced several months in advance. When it does go live, nationals of 59 visa-exempt countries and territories, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, will need the €20 authorisation, valid for up to three years, to visit 30 European countries. Enforcement will then be phased in: a six-month transitional period during which no traveller will be turned away for lacking an ETIAS, followed by a further six-month grace period for first-time arrivals. The system's technical prerequisite, the Entry/Exit System (EES), is already in place: the Commission confirmed it became fully operational at all Schengen external borders on 10 April 2026, after a progressive rollout that began on 12 October 2025. Any website selling "ETIAS applications" today is not official.
When does ETIAS actually start?
The only official answer is "the last quarter of 2026", the window the European Council set out in March 2025 and which the Commission's ETIAS portal still carries as of July 2026. No precise go-live date has been published, and the Commission has committed to announcing one several months before operations begin, so travellers and travel sellers will have notice.
The confusion is understandable. ETIAS was originally slated for 2021, then slipped repeatedly, most recently from 2025, because it cannot function until the EES database it queries is complete. With EES now fully deployed, the late-2026 target rests on firmer ground than any previous date.
One point worth repeating to clients: ETIAS is not a visa. It is a pre-travel screening similar to the American ESTA or the British ETA. Travellers who currently need a full Schengen visa will continue to apply through the existing process — see the Schengen visa guide for 2026 — as ETIAS does not apply to them.
Is the EU Entry/Exit System fully operational now?
Yes. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs confirmed that the EES reached full operation at every external air, sea and land border crossing on 10 April 2026, ending the six-month progressive rollout that started on 12 October 2025. The system replaces manual passport stamping with a digital record of each non-EU national's entry, exit and biometrics, part of the wider shift towards digital travel credentials at borders worldwide.
The Commission's own figures from the rollout period show the scale of the change:
- More than 45 million border crossings registered by the system since October 2025;
- Over 24,000 people refused entry, for reasons including expired or fraudulent documents and insufficient justification for travel;
- Around 600 individuals flagged as security risks identified through biometric checks, including identity-fraud cases that stamped passports would have missed.
For airlines, ferry operators and tour operators, the practical takeaway is that first-time EES registration queues, the main friction point of the past nine months, are now the norm at every Schengen entry point.
How much does ETIAS cost, and who is exempt from the fee?
The fee is €20 per application, tripled from the originally legislated €7 by a Commission decision adopted in July 2025. The authorisation is valid for three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, and covers unlimited short stays within the standard 90-days-in-180 Schengen limit.
| ETIAS at a glance | Detail (official, as of July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Start of operations | Last quarter of 2026; exact date announced months ahead |
| Fee | €20 (raised from €7 in July 2025) |
| Fee-exempt | Under-18s, over-70s, certain family members of EU citizens (application still required) |
| Validity | 3 years, or until passport expiry |
| Coverage | 30 European countries; 59 visa-exempt nationalities affected |
| Enforcement phase-in | 6-month transitional period, then 6-month grace period |
Applicants aged under 18 or over 70, and certain family members of EU citizens, pay nothing but must still apply. The only official application channel will be the EU's travel-europe.europa.eu site and its official mobile app; third-party sites charging mark-ups today are, at best, unnecessary intermediaries.
How will the ETIAS grace period work?
The legislation builds in a deliberately soft start, in two phases. During the initial six-month transitional period, travellers should apply, but no one will be refused entry solely for lacking an ETIAS provided they meet all other entry conditions. In the subsequent six-month grace period, leniency narrows: only travellers arriving in the Schengen area for the first time since the transitional period ended may still enter without one; repeat visitors will be expected to hold a valid authorisation.
In practice, if operations begin in the final quarter of 2026, ETIAS would not become strictly mandatory for most travellers until mid-2027 at the earliest, and fully mandatory for all until late 2027. Those dates remain projections until the Commission fixes the launch day.
What should travellers and the travel trade do now?
Nothing, yet. The Commission is explicit that no action is required from travellers before the system opens, and ABTA, the UK travel association, is giving its members the same message. The sensible preparations are operational: brief front-line staff on the two-phase enforcement calendar, build the €20 fee into 2027 package costings for non-EU source markets, and update booking-flow advisories once the launch date is named. With Europe heading for another record year — international arrivals are forecast to reach a record 1.58 billion in 2026 — the industry has a clear interest in getting the messaging right before the switch is flipped.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an ETIAS to visit Europe in summer 2026?
No. ETIAS is not yet operational and will not start before the last quarter of 2026. You will, however, be registered in the Entry/Exit System, with fingerprints and a facial image taken on first entry, as EES has been live at all Schengen borders since 10 April 2026.
Will I be turned away at the border when ETIAS launches if I don't have one?
Not immediately. For the first six months no traveller will be refused solely for lacking an ETIAS, and for a further six months first-time arrivals remain exempt. Full enforcement is therefore unlikely before late 2027.
How much does ETIAS cost and how long does approval take?
The fee is €20, waived for under-18s and over-70s, and the authorisation lasts three years or until your passport expires. The EU says most applications will be decided within minutes, though some can take up to four days, or longer if extra documents are requested.
Does ETIAS apply to UK passport holders?
Yes. Since Brexit, British citizens are visa-exempt third-country nationals, so they will need an ETIAS once it becomes mandatory, alongside the 59 other eligible nationalities. Irish citizens do not need one, as Ireland is an EU member.
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