ETIAS has no start date. What to do for a 2027 Europe trip

As of 30 October 2026, ETIAS has no start date. The EU’s own site says the system “is currently not in operation”, that no applications are being collected, and that the start date will be announced “several months prior to its launch”. The “last quarter of 2026” wording that sat on that page until the summer is gone. Nobody official has said 2027 out loud in Brussels, but a Polish government notice from 20 Sep 2026 calls the launch “planned for 2027”, and that is where the reporting points. If you are flying to Europe between January and June 2027, the short version is: there is nothing to apply for yet, and anyone selling you one is not the EU.

When does ETIAS start, and why the date keeps moving

ETIAS was always meant to follow the Entry/Exit System (EES), the biometric border register that replaced passport stamps and has been fully running across the Schengen area since 10 April 2026. In April the Commission still wrote that ETIAS was “scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026”. Then EES had a rough summer. Airports reported long queues, airline and airport associations wrote to the Commission President on 1 July, and the Financial Times reported that eu-LISA, the agency building both systems, had accepted a 2026 ETIAS launch was no longer feasible. One person briefed on the talks put it plainly: clean up EES first before adding another system that will double the line.

By August the official page had been rewritten to “currently not in operation”. The temporary flexibility that let border posts skip some biometric steps in a crush expired on 6 Sep 2026, and trade bodies including ABTA and IATA want it back into 2027. The next eu-LISA board meets 17 to 19 Nov 2026. The Commission, not the agency, sets the start date, and it has committed to months of notice.

What ETIAS will cost and who is exempt

The rules are settled even if the date is not. ETIAS is a travel authorisation, not a visa, for citizens of visa-free countries entering 30 European countries, so it covers US, Canadian, Australian, British and most other passports that enter the Schengen area today without paperwork. You apply online or in the official app, pay €20 (about US$22), and most applications are approved within minutes; the EU’s outside limit is 96 hours unless you are asked for documents or an interview, which can add up to 30 days. The authorisation is tied to your passport and lasts three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, and covers any number of trips of up to 90 days in any 180.

Three groups pay nothing but still have to apply: anyone under 18, anyone over 70, and family members of EU nationals who qualify under free-movement rules. You will not need ETIAS at all if you hold a residence card or permit from a participating country, or if you are only changing planes and stay inside the international transit area.

The United Kingdom sits outside ETIAS entirely. British passport holders will need one to enter the EU, and the UK (from 7 Nov) runs its own permit for visitors going the other way.

If you are flying to Europe between January and June 2027

Do nothing about ETIAS this year, and keep your eye on one page. Book the flights and hotels you were going to book. The EU has promised months of warning, and Euronews reports a planned transition of at least six months after launch during which travellers without an authorisation are not turned away if they meet the other entry conditions. The official FAQ, written for the system in full swing, says they will be refused, so treat the transition as a cushion rather than a plan.

What you should do is check your passport. ETIAS, when it comes, needs a passport valid for more than three months past your planned departure from Europe and issued less than ten years ago, and that is already the Schengen rule today. A renewal takes weeks in the US at the best of times.

Expect EES at the border whatever happens with ETIAS. On first entry your fingerprints and photo are taken at a kiosk or counter and your passport is no longer stamped. Allow extra time on arrival, especially at the big hubs, where the summer queues were worst. Our EES and ETIAS explainer walks through what the kiosk asks for. And if your trip includes a hotel in any of the cities raising their tourist taxes next year, that list is the other thing worth reading before you budget.

The honest read is that a 2027 launch is likely and the month is anyone’s guess. When the EU names a date we will update this page and the Facts checked line at the top will change. Until then, EES is the only new thing at the border, your €20 stays in your pocket, and if December is on your mind, here are the 2026 Christmas market dates.