Proving that Americans aren't the only ones who have difficulties getting their border entry procedures in working order, Europeans have had to postpone introduction of their European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, yet again.
The new travel authorization process and entry fee were supposed to take effect in 2024.
Before that, they were supposed to start in 2022. Then they were pushed to November 2023. Then they were moved to mid-2024.
Scratch all that! Now the earliest the new rules could come into force will be May 2025—and that's a big maybe.
The rolling deadline makes the United States' 15 years-long drag-out of Real ID requirements look as precise as a Swiss clock.
The long-postponed ETIAS fee of €7 (about $8) per applicant, which will cover travelers for multiple visits to Europe over three years, has been put off because Europe's new automated Entry/Exit System (EES) that will register non-EU visitors has not yet been completed, according to The National Law Review.
And because no one is sure when the EES will be finally ready for action, the revised debut of ETIAS could still be bumped yet again, so mark your calendar for May 2025 in pencil.
Frommer's explains how ETIAS will function at this link, but as the unveiling of the program slips even more into the future, take your notes in pencil as well.
We'll let you know as soon as we hear about the next final, drop-dead, sure-thing, no-take-backsies debut date—and when that one shifts as well.
