1.4 billon people from over 60 different world countries, who currently are eligible travel to the 30 EU/Schengen Area countries without having to obtain a short-stay visa, will have to apply for an online travel authorisation before any trip to the Member States, before the end of the first half of 2025.

The European Union has been working on this electronic entry permit, which is called the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), since 2016, in a bid to enhance security in Europe by being aware of who’s coming in advance, Schengen.News reports.

The rules of travel to most European countries have changed. Starting in the first half of 2025, some 1.4 billion people from over 60 visa-exempt countries are required to have a travel authorisation to enter 30 European countries for a short stay.

Applicants Will Be Able to Apply for an ETIAS Through Its Website & Mobile App

The ETIAS is a travel authorisation that travellers from Schengen visa-free countries will have to apply for, before the middle of next year, probably May. The online application procedures will be completed through the ETIAS website, or the ETIAS app. The latter has not been launched yet.

It has been asserted that applying for an ETIAS will take around ten minutes, as travellers will have to upload their passport scan and a photo of theirs on the website/app, as well as answer several simple questions.

Countries like the United States, New Zealand and Canada already have similar schemes in place. The United Kingdom is also working on its own Electronic Travel Authorisation system, ever since it left the EU.

Frontex & Europol Blame eu-LISA for ETIAS Launch Delay – eu-LISA Blames Contractors

The ETIAS was originally scheduled to be launched in January 2021. However, since then, its operational date has been postponed several times.

Previously, the system was scheduled to become effective on November 2023, but without any announcement, the EU had silently postponed the launch of the ETIAS to 2024, and then later on the date of the ETIAS launch was reset once more last year, with the EU Commission blaming delays on contractors.

The new roadmap for the delivery of the new IT architecture foresees that the Entry/Exit system will be ready to enter into operation in Autumn 2024 and that ETIAS will be ready to enter into operation in Spring 2025.

However, in a report, EU agencies Frontex and Europol have blamed the eu-LISA, which is the agency responsible for the operational management of the ETIAS, for causing the continuous delays on the completion of the scheme.

[The delay of the ETIAS]…resides on the current lack of the Carrier and Traveller Support Tools due to the delays in their development by the eu-LISA…

The Member States have also been blamed for failing to meet some of their tasks related to the Frontex responsibilities, including here responding to requests for approval of templates containing the appeal process information, and not developing the templates for the exercise of data subject rights quicker.