Ryanair and other travel-industry voices have warned that the EU's plan to launch its Entry/Exit System at every frontier on a single day is risky and untested. Brussels insists there will be no soft launch when the biometric border system arrives in autumn 2024.
Meeting in Luxembourg on 19-20 October 2023, EU ministers weighed the internal-security implications of the Middle East crisis alongside the migration pact talks and endorsed a new timetable for Europe's digital border systems.
The EU's facial-scan Entry/Exit System was expected in late 2024, with one UK report pointing to a 6 October start. Here is what the system involves, who it applies to and how it links to ETIAS.
British travellers will not need an ETIAS "eurovisa" to visit the European Union until 2025 at the earliest, after the EU tied the permit to its delayed Entry/Exit System. With a likely soft launch, some Britons may not need an ETIAS for another two years.
Holding an approved ETIAS is only part of the picture. To actually cross the external border, visa-free travellers must still meet a set of entry conditions that border guards verify on arrival. Here is what those checks involve.
Once ETIAS launches, visa-exempt travellers will need an authorisation before their trip. But a successful application does not, on its own, guarantee that you will be let into Europe.
UK travellers crossing the French border could see waiting times more than double when the EU's digital Entry/Exit System arrives, according to a report by France's public finance watchdog. France has ordered hundreds of kiosks and tablets to register photos and fingerprints.
With misinformation circulating about ETIAS, it is worth being clear: the application asks for standard personal and travel details, but no health data and no biometrics such as fingerprints.
Misinformation about ETIAS has led many travellers to worry about handing over health records or fingerprints. The reality is simpler: the application asks for none of that. Here is what ETIAS actually requires and how the process works.
ETIAS has attracted plenty of confusion before it has even gone live. Here we separate the facts from the most common misunderstandings, from where the authorisation applies to who has to pay for it.