EU to unveil new entry rule for UK and other third-country citizens under visa-free regime

The European Commission is expected to introduce a new entry requirement for all third-country nationals who can travel to the EU Member states under the visa-free regime. Taking into account that citizens from a total of 63 third countries, including the UK, are allowed to enter the Schengen Area countries for business or travel purposes for up to 90 days without having to apply for a visa beforehand, the Commission plans to make the travel process within the bloc easier and more secure.

To reduce the waiting times at the borders and other procedures as well as to address security concerns, the Commission introduced the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) back in November 2016. Since then, the ETIAS has been under development and is expected to be officially launched by the end of 2022, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

As soon as this system enters into force, all travellers from third countries who don’t need a visa to travel within the Schengen Area will be required to make an application in the system. Nonetheless, it has been explained that the ETIAS won’t be mandatory for at least the first year of its implementation. The first year will be a transitional phase so the travellers can get familiar with the new requirement.

The application process for the ETIAS is completely online, meaning that all those who need to apply won’t be required to go through extensive paperwork. Moreover, the period to complete the application is expected not to take more than ten minutes.

It has been highlighted that the main condition to apply for the travel authorisation within the Schengen Area is that the applicant holds a valid passport. Depending on the country of origin of each applicant, the form will contain several fields that need to be filled.

The main information that will be required includes biometric data, address, education and work experience, the first country the applicant plans to visit, as well as other background and eligibility questions. When all the required data is filled in, the applicants will need to submit their applications and pay a small fee. Forms will then be checked through automated checks across various EU, and international databases as well as will be screened for health or security risks.

If there are no issues with the application, the travel authorisation will then be issued quickly and automatically unless there are any possible grounds for refusal. If a specific profile of an applicant presents possible risks, the responsible bodies will carry additional checks to determine whether the travel authorisation can be issued.