ETIAS – European Travel Information And Authorization System

The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) is a new visa waiver program that has been created by the European Union to protect EU borders.

The reasons that brought to the creation of the ETIAS are basically the possibility to identify possible threats and risks associated with visitors traveling to the Schengen area.

The system will enter into full force on 2021, and by that date all visitors who currently do not need a visa to enter the Schengen area for tourism or business purposes shall apply for the ETIAS authorization to be able to enter a Schengen member country.

ETIAS countries are the 26 members of the Schengen area, among which 22 are members of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic and Malta) and 4 belong to the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland).

As of today, there are 60 countries (Albania, Andorra, Antigua e Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzigovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Samoa, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, East Timor , Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela) whose nationals will need to apply for an ETIAS visa waiver when visiting the Schengen area, even if as time goes by, the visa waiver program shall be opened to further countries in the future.

The ETIAS visa waiver such as the ESTA visa waiver program of the United States - is meant to cover short-term stays of up to 90 days (in ETIAS' case, over 180 days), therefore it is designed for tourists and business travellers.

Once approved, the ETIAS can be used for three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.

The ETIAS travel authorization will be revoked when the conditions for issuing the travel authorization are no longer met, especially when there are grounds to believe that the travel authorization was obtained by providing misleadins...