The headline is getting monotonous: The European Union has once again postponed the start date for its new visa-like Electronic Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), this time until sometime in 2024.
The system, announced in 2018, requires visitors who do not need visas for Europe to nonetheless register and pay a €7 fee for a three-year visa waiver. Start was originally planned for 2020, and has been postponed repeatedly, most recently last August when it was postponed to May 2023.
At the same time, the EES, or Entry and Exist System, which will use biometrics to keep track of who, when and where travelers enter and leave Europe and whether they have overstayed rules, was postponed to November 2023. The new shift means that EES will now be in effect before ETIAS instead of the other way around—unless EES is also again postponed.
