Travellers from the UK will soon have to pay a fee to enter popular holiday hotspots like Spain, Greece and Portugal.
For countries in the Schengen Area, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) via waiver will be needed by all British passport holders. This comes after Britain left the European Union in 2020 after an 11-month transitional period.
The EITAS check was first proposed in 2016 and confirmed in 2018. Currently Brits can visit enter Europe for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, but this will soon change and the EITAS will act as a waiver for a visa, the similar system UK tourists need to follow if they go to the USA.
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The waiver was expected to launch in 2031 but an EU spokesperson told Chronicle Live that it could come in earlier adding: "According to current planning, this will apply as of the end of 2022". The visa waiver will apply to travellers aged between 18 and 70. It is expected to cost around £6.
According to the EU's ETIAS website, "ETIAS will be a largely automated IT system created to identify security, irregular migration or high epidemic risks posed by visa-exempt visitors travelling to the Schengen States, whilst at the same time facilitate crossing borders for the vast majority of travellers who do not pose such risks. Non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to travel to the Schengen area will have to apply for a travel authorisation through the ETIAS system prior to their trip."
Holidaymakers will have to fill a form in online if they wish to travel to Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, France and more. The EU's EITAS website says it should take around 10 minutes to fill in and applicants will need a passport or equivalent document to apply.
Countries UK passport holders will need an ETIAS visa waiver for
British tourists will require an ETIAS visa waiver to visit every country in the Schengen area, including four non-EU countries and four countries applying to join the Schengen area, etiasvisa.com says. UK passport holders will not require an ETIAS to visit the Republic of Ireland.
They are:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Romania
- Iceland
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
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