THERE are a number of new rules being introduced for Brits heading to Europe soon.
One of those is the new visa-waiver – and thousands face having tp pay for it twice.
Expected to launch next year, the ETIAS will be required by all Brits to travel to Europe.
This includes 26 countries in the Schengen Area, including popular holiday hotspots such as Spain, Greece and Italy.
The visa-waiver will cost €7 (£6.10), although is free for anyone under 18 and over 70, and lasts three years.
However, it will only last three years if your passport is set to last longer than this.
Anyone who buys the visa-waiver, only for their passport to expire, will not be able to transfer it to the new document.
Instead, travellers will have to pay for a second ETIAS, or will not be able to board their flight.
I recently nearly fell victim to this myself when travelling to the US (despite being a seasoned traveller)
Despite having an ESTA – a similar US equivalent to the ETIAS – that was still in date, I completely forgot that I no longer had the visa-waiver in my new passport.
I managed to apply for one in the nick of time, with it being accepted in time for my flight.
So any holidaymakers looking to head abroad to Europe next year, should make sure to check both their passport expiry dates and ETIAS, when it is introduced.
Thankfully, if you have a blue passport this won’t affect you as they were only introduced in 2020, but anyone with a red passport will need to check.
Thankfully the ETIAS isn’t set to be introduced until May 2025, with an official date yet to be confirmed.
When it is introduced, Brits will need to apply for the visa-waiver on the website here.
While most applications hope to be processed “within minutes” according to the website, they may take up to 96 hours.
Some applications may need to apply up to 30 days before travel if additional information is needed.
As it can only be applied for online, millions of Brits face being unable to apply for one.
According to the ONS, around six per cent of UK households either do not have internet or have not used it in three months – affecting 4.2million Brits.
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained everything you need to know about the upcoming EES.
“While airports across Europe have the space to add this additional process it is still going to add a huge amount of extra time to the customs checks.
“Although it will remove the need to have stamps in your passport, everything will still need to be checked either by a border officer or an e-gate.
“Where things could get really bad are at ports like Dover – where there are significant space constraints and multiple individuals will be travelling together in cars and coaches.
“Both Eurostar and Le Shuttle have invested millions in new facilities to process passengers but it is almost inevitable that the first few months of the system could lead to lengthy delays as we all get used to the new system.”
Here’s everything else you need to know about ETIAS.
Also new for Brits will be the Entry/Exit System (EES) which will start on November 10 this year.
Initially set to launch in 2022, the new system will replace passport stamping with biometric checks.
Every traveller will have to scan their passport and have a facial biometric before providing prints from the four fingers on their right hand.
Only kids under 12 will not need to have their fingerprints taken.
However, there are fears it will cause huge queues at the borders, in particular at the Eurostar entrance at London St Pancras, as well as in Dover and Folkestone.
