The European Union has no launch date for its new travel authorisation, and the European Commission collects no applications. More than 150 websites offer to sell the authorisation today.
ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. The official ETIAS website carries the notice: "ETIAS is currently not in operation and no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point." The same page states that the European Union will inform travellers of the specific start date several months before launch. Applications will run through that site and the official ETIAS mobile app.
Where the Schedule Stands
ETIAS had been scheduled for the final quarter of 2026. Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at the travel association Abta, spoke at a press briefing at the Abta Travel Convention in Madeira on 13 October 2026. "There is now no official launch date for the Etias system," he said, and an update was expected in the coming months. The convention ran 12 to 14 October in Funchal.
Abta's position is that ETIAS should wait until the Entry/Exit System is fully operational and working properly. Mark Tanzer, Abta's chief executive, said on stage at the same convention that the EES rollout still felt "quite patchy", with travellers sometimes sent through electronic gates after biometric checks and sometimes sent back to manual passport controls. He called for the contingency measures that let border authorities suspend biometric checks during significant delays to run into 2027.
The Sites Selling Nothing
Abta counts more than 150 websites offering Etias authorisations before applications open. It urged its members to tell customers that nobody can buy an authorisation today, and to watch for fraudulent sites. Frontex, the European border agency, warns that unofficial sites mimic the layout and domain names of the official page, and that the risks run from data protection problems and identity theft to extortionate fees. Some carry the wrong list of who needs an authorisation.
Commercial intermediaries can act legitimately. The official FAQ states that another person or a commercial intermediary may apply on a traveller's behalf under a signed declaration of representation. The same FAQ states that applying directly costs EUR 20 and that an intermediary may charge an additional fee. It directs travellers to check a service's quality, its additional charges and its data protection before using it.
The official ETIAS site is the only website of the European Union that accepts applications directly.
What a Group Needs at the Border This Season
Nothing changes for a group travelling to Europe this season. A valid passport and the usual entry conditions carry a traveller across the border.
The passport should be valid for more than three months after the intended date of departure from the ETIAS countries, and no older than ten years. The official FAQ advises travellers not to apply with a document that expires soon, because the border will refuse entry without very good reasons.
A short stay remains capped at 90 days within any 180-day period. Cyprus calculates its own 90 days separately, so a stay there does not consume the allowance for the other countries.
The EU Entry/Exit System now holds the biometric record of non-EU travellers. Its progressive rollout began on 12 October 2025, and it became fully operational at all external border crossing points on 10 April 2026. Abta's Holiday Habits survey, published at the convention on 13 October 2026, found that 46 per cent of travellers to Europe had been through the system, and that 87 per cent of those reported queues of less than an hour.
The United Kingdom runs its own Electronic Travel Authorisation. Most visitors need one for the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. It costs 20 pounds and allows a stay of up to six months, and every traveller needs one, including babies and children.
What ETIAS Will Do When It Starts
ETIAS will be an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to 30 European countries. It links to the traveller's passport, covers repeated entries and stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period, and runs for three years or until the passport used in the application expires.
The fee is EUR 20. Applicants under 18 and over 70 are exempt from the payment. A family member of an EU national, or of a national of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, is exempt where they qualify for family member status. Every visa-exempt traveller must apply, whatever their age.
Most applications are processed within minutes. An application that needs extra information, documents or an interview can take up to a further 30 days. The official FAQ advises applying before buying tickets or booking hotels.
What to Tell Your Group
Apply for nothing before the European Union opens applications. Tell clients to ignore any site that sells an ETIAS waiver today. Bookmark the official ETIAS site, keep passports valid for three months past the return date, and allow time at the border while biometric checks are taken.
Group organisers should watch for a European Union announcement months ahead of launch. The official notice commits to that lead time. Until then, a paid ETIAS waiver is money lost.