A new electronic authorization system is available to be used for those countries having a Schengen zone. ETIAS is a system, which is provided to the travelers for the short-term visa with the validity of 90 days.
This entire system is similar to the ESTA United States of America or even the eTA system of Canada. In this article, we will discuss the ETIAS system for traveling in European countries.
What is ETIAS?
ETIAS stands for European travel information and authorization system. This is basically an immigration control tool, which is mainly used for preventing threats and ineligible candidates from entering the European countries. This system is combined with EES which is also known as the entry-exit system will eventually speed up the process. It is the modernization system for reinforcing the border control procedures in European countries.
The system will provide better protection against any false identification or documentation, as a result, we can prevent false immigration in European countries. If you are one of those candidates who are from the Visa-free countries, then you need to apply for ETIAS in order to cross the border. This authorization is valid for 26 countries in Europe for 90 days. ETIAS Europe is valid for three years from the date of issue. ETIAS is mandatory for entering is below mentioned countries in the Schengen Area.
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Vatican City State
The Procedure of ETIAS
Holder of the ETIAS is not confirmed to enter the European countries it is entirely depending on the decision made by the national border guards. Although applying for this process is automatic, pre-verification will speed up the border checking process. You can apply for this online which will take up to 10 minutes and will cost you around € 7,-. If the applicant is under the age of 18, they do not need to provide any processing fee.
- Verification of the information of the applicants is done, this will speed of the verification process while entering the European countries. They will check for the potential risks for allowing this particular individual into the European countries.
- As a result, the cross-check process will be done automatically, they will contact with several security agencies in order to check the information provided by the individual.
- After all the processing is completed, the system will allow or refuse the authorization to enter those European countries which we have mentioned above.