What ETIAS is
ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, is a pre-travel authorization for people who can visit the Schengen Area without a visa. Once it runs, a visa-exempt traveler applies online before departure, pays a fee of 20 euro, and receives an authorization valid for three years or until the passport expires (etias.com, Wikipedia). It is not a visa and it does not lengthen the stay: short stays remain limited to 90 days in any 180-day period (Regulation (EU) 2016/399).
Timeline so far
- March 5, 2025. EU Home Affairs Ministers endorse a revised timeline: the Entry/Exit System first, in October 2025, and ETIAS expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026 (official ETIAS site, April 14, 2025, checked October 5, 2026).
- June 2026. At its board meeting, eu-LISA concludes that a Q4 2026 launch is no longer achievable, citing IT integration between ETIAS and the Entry/Exit System (etiaspro.com, July 20, 2026).
- July 2026. The official website removes its late-2026 target. The Commission says preparations continue and many factors affect the launch (etias.com, July 16, 2026).
- September 23 and 24, 2026. The eu-LISA management board meets in Strasbourg and discusses "the latest developments concerning EES and ETIAS, including implementation planning and the next steps towards upcoming milestones". Its published summary gives no ETIAS start date (eu-LISA, September 24, 2026, checked October 5, 2026).
- October 5, 2026. The official site still reads: "ETIAS is currently not in operation and no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point. The European Union will inform about the specific date for the start of ETIAS several months prior to its launch" (official ETIAS site, checked October 5, 2026).
The status line at the top of this page is dated. When the EU publishes a start date, this page will say so and carry the new "Updated" date.
Who will need it
Travelers who do not need a visa for a short stay in the 30 ETIAS countries, which includes citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia (Wikipedia). EU citizens and people who hold a Schengen visa or residence permit do not apply for ETIAS.
Which countries
The first table above lists all 30: the 29 Schengen countries plus Cyprus (Wikipedia). They are the same 30 countries the official site lists as requiring ETIAS (official ETIAS site, Who should apply, checked October 5, 2026), and the Commission counts 29 countries in the Schengen area, with Cyprus not yet among them (European Commission, checked October 5, 2026). Each row has its own link, for example #czech-republic or #cyprus. The second table lists the countries people search together with ETIAS that do not need it: Ireland and the United Kingdom are outside the scheme, the Faroe Islands are outside Schengen, and San Marino, Monaco, Andorra and Vatican City have no ETIAS of their own but are reached through Italy, France or Spain, where ETIAS applies (etias.com).
Scam warning
There is no official application to fill in yet, and applications cannot be made anywhere (etiaspro.com). A site that takes your passport details and a payment for an "ETIAS application" today is not the EU system. The only official page is travel-europe.europa.eu/etias; bookmark it and ignore the rest.
What to do instead
The thing that already limits your trips is the 90/180 rule, and it applies whether or not ETIAS is running. Count your days now: PlanToTrip keeps a Schengen 90/180 counter next to the itinerary, counts the trips you planned in it, and tells you before you book whether the next trip would go over (how the counter works). Keep your passport stamps, check the official ETIAS page before a trip, and come back to this page for the date.