EUROPE TO CHARGE ENTRANCE FEE

From 2024, those countries who don’t need a visa to travel to Europe, will be required to preregister their visits and pay for entry.

Those from countries who currently require visas to visit Europe will still need them.

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) was first announced by the European Commission in 2016. It was implemented into legislation in 2018.

Although it has been pushed back a few times since then, it looks as if it will finally be put in place in 2024.

The Commission made it clear that ETIAS isn’t a visa, but rather a system that will require certain people to plan their trip ahead and pay for entry into the European Union (EU).

CNN reports that citizens of the 60 or so non-EU countries who don’t currently need a visa to the EU – such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore and the UAE. EU residents are exempt, whatever their nationality.

Since 2009, the United States has a similar system in place. The ESTA visa waiver program was used as the model on which the ETIAS system was based.

Image credit: CNN