19th March 2024
Travel

ETIAS: the European Travel Information and Authorization System By The European Union.

 

Travel lovers are aware of the ever-changing international travel regimes and regulations introduced by different countries. These regimes are brought into this world in order to deal with international travel issues more conveniently and give the visitors a more comfortable experience. And that is the reason behind the introduction of ETIAS, a new travel regime by the European Union.

ETIAS stands for European Travel Information and Authorization System. It will be in action from 1st January 2021. They will be mandatory for non-EU based travelers visiting the European nations. There are two kinds of non-EU members, one that is allowed to visit and stay in the continent without having to acquire their visa and then there are those who always need a visa to get permitted for visiting the European Nations. The new visa-waiver system that is going to launch pretty soon in the world is going to be applied to the first category travelers.

The rest of the visitors will remain unaffected upon the launch of this new travel regulation system. ETIAS is not a visa, but a new visa waiver system. It will remain valid up to 90 days of your visit to the European nations.

The ETIAS is going to be applied to the total number of European Countries including the ones belong to the Schengen Area Border countries. To be exact there are a total number of 44 countries in the world belonging to the continent of Europe. From these 44 eligible ETIAS countries, 26 belong to the Schengen Area border.

These 26 countries collectively have a population of 400 million people. These countries include France, Spain, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Finland, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The purpose of the introduction of this new visa waiver system remains some international travel issues. It will help the government of Europe in dealing with immigration issues hassle-free plus it will also be more convenient for travelers who are planning their trip to Europe. It is suggested to apply for your ETIAS prior to your visit to Europe if you want a hassle-free journey through the continent because they are soon going to be compulsory.

In order to apply for ETIAS, you must visit the official website of ETIAS. You will just have to fill an application form online asking for your basic details and that’s pretty much it. You will have to pay a minimal fee of seven euros to submit the form. As soon as you fill out these details you will receive a decision about getting your ETIAS. You must have a passport to apply for ETIAS.

After getting your ETIAS application approved, it will be valid for the duration of three years. But in case your passport expires before your ETIAS expiry date then your ETIAS will no longer be applicable as it will automatically be invalid.