European Travel Information and Authorisation System. A travel authorisation for visa-exempt nationals visiting 30 European countries — not a visa, and not the same thing as EES, which is the border system that is already running.
No applications are being collected. The EU has said it will announce the start date several months in advance, and it has not announced one.
The Commission expects ETIAS in the last quarter of 2026 — but expected is not open, and no start date has been announced. The firm dates repeated across travel sites have no source behind them, and a site selling you an ETIAS application today is selling something that does not exist.
Every field below traces to a government page. Where the EU has not published something, the field says so rather than guessing.
These are blank on purpose. A blank field is survivable; a confident wrong number is what this site exists to correct.
No EU body has announced a start date. The Commission has said ETIAS is expected in the last quarter of 2026, and the official ETIAS site says only that the EU will give several months' notice before launch — an expectation and a promise of warning, not a date you can book a flight around. The firm dates circulating elsewhere have no source behind them, and one EU page states the last quarter of 2026 as settled fact: the same page that still prices ETIAS at €7.
Official ETIAS site · European Commission, 17 Jul 2025 · both read 15 Sep 2026The regulation provides for a phase-in after launch, but the operational detail — how carriers check, what happens to a traveller who arrives without one during the phase-in — depends on implementing acts that are not out. Anyone describing the first six months in detail is describing a draft.
ETIAS is the single most misreported scheme we track, and the worst offender is an official EU domain.
Newest first. Every entry links the government page it came from.
After a phased start in October 2025, the Entry/Exit System now runs at all external crossing points. Your face and fingerprints are recorded, and the system counts your 90-days-in-180 for you rather than relying on passport stamps. There is nothing to apply for and no fee. Holders of residence permits issued by Cyprus or Ireland are still registered.
€7→€20
The delegated regulation setting the fee at €20 entered into force, replacing €7. But it only takes effect once ETIAS is operational, and ETIAS is not: no applications are being collected, and the Commission has published no launch date. Under-18s and over-70s will pay nothing.
Biometric registration began at selected crossings under a temporary derogation allowing a progressive start, ahead of full operation the following April.
Because the scheme has not opened, every site currently taking ETIAS payments is taking money for nothing. When it does open, the only place to apply will be the EU's own service.
Lookalike domains are the norm in this category — names built from the scheme's initials plus a word like official, gov, online or apply. The real one is on europa.eu. Check the domain, not the design.