European Commission's ETIAS page still lists no launch date

No date and no applications

Until July 2026 the Commission's ETIAS page said the system would start operations in the last quarter of 2026. The target then disappeared without a press release, SchengenVisaInfo reported on 19 October 2026. The Financial Times reported that eu-LISA, the EU agency that builds and runs the system, considered a 2026 launch no longer feasible. One EU official quoted by the paper described the timeline as illusory. ABTA, the UK travel trade body, told its annual convention on 13 October 2026 that there is no official launch date. The Connexion noted that the site had switched to promising only several months' notice before a launch.

What the permit will cost and who needs it

ETIAS was originally scheduled for 2021, and it has slipped through 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and the fourth quarter of 2026, with 2027 now the realistic outcome, TravelPirates reported. When it opens, ETIAS will cost €20 per application. Travellers from visa-exempt countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, will need an authorisation for short stays, SchengenVisaInfo reported. Visit Ukraine said traveller data will be checked before boarding a flight. One authorisation covers 30 European countries and allows stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, AFAR reported. It will be valid for three years or until the passport it is tied to expires, whichever comes first. Under-18s and over-70s will be exempt from the fee but still need authorisation, The Connexion reported.

ETIAS is not a visa and does not replace a passport, Visit Ukraine reported. It described the system as closer to the US ESTA: an online form with personal details and security questions, filed before departure. Holding an ETIAS does not guarantee entry, USA Today reported; travellers will still present their passports and undergo screening by a border officer, according to AFAR.

Most applications are expected to be processed within minutes. Some will take up to four days, or 14 days if extra documents are requested. An interview request can push that to 30 days, according to the official ETIAS site as cited by AFAR. The Connexion noted that travellers will be advised to apply well in advance.

Why it keeps moving

ETIAS cannot run without the Entry/Exit System, the biometric border register that replaced passport stamps.

EES became fully operational on 10 April 2026. Its rollout produced queues of two to five hours at major European airports over the summer, TravelPirates reported. IATA's regional vice president for Europe, Rafael Schvartzman, warned of waits of three, four, five and even six hours, AFAR reported. Nine countries said in September 2026 that they were not running EES at all borders and at all times, according to Fragomen. They were Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. The EES grace period expired on 6 September 2026.

The EU has given no official reason for the ETIAS delay. Reporting links it to the strain of the EES launch and to unresolved technical work on ETIAS itself, SchengenVisaInfo said. EES rolled out gradually from 12 October 2025, and the law let countries pause the fingerprint step at congested crossings until early September. Fragomen said temporary suspensions of EES at some crossing points may continue.

The transition softens the start

ETIAS will begin with a six-month transitional period, during which travellers who meet every other entry condition can enter without an authorisation. A further six-month grace period follows, letting first-time arrivals since the transitional period ended enter without one. SchengenVisaInfo calculated that if the Commission announced tomorrow that ETIAS opens in four months, the earliest a regular visitor could be refused for lacking ETIAS is ten months after that announcement. The Commission has said it will announce the specific date several months before launch. A Council-endorsed roadmap from 5 March 2025 had put the requirement into force for most travellers from around April 2027, once the transition ran.

What is still unknown

eu-LISA's management board was expected to consider a revised plan in September 2026, according to SchengenVisaInfo.

No new launch date has been published since. The European Commission did not respond to SchengenVisaInfo's request for an updated timetable. TravelPirates warned that no site is authorised to process ETIAS applications, and that any site claiming otherwise is a scam. When the system opens, applications will go through the official EU website or app, SchengenVisaInfo said. SchengenVisaInfo advised travellers not to plan around any ETIAS date until the Commission publishes one.