Electronic Travel Information 
and Authorization System

ETIAS will function by online application only. The application will have to be submitted prior to arrival in the European Union and will cost a fee of 7 euros, regardless of whether the application is accepted or not. However, those under 18 years old will not be charged.

When filling in the form, each applicant will be required to enter their personal data, including their name, gender, date of birth and other similar information. Applicants will also be required to enter their passport data and EU state of entry, before answering background questions on criminal records, health and any history of immigration within the EU.
After an applicant submits their data, it will be checked by various organisations responsible for EU security and compared against their databases.
These organisations include EUROPOL, SIS, VIS, EURODAC, INTERPOL, ECRIS

These organisations will also check every applicant against a watchlist of people and ensure every applicant is subject to EU screening rules. If any of these databases flag an applicant for one reason or another, they will be the subject of a manual processing by ETIAS themselves, to check if they are fit and safe to enter an EU state.

Like many electronic visa systems, one of the aims of ETIAS is to speed things up when processing applications. Applicants will usually receive a decision within minutes of submitting, unless the case goes to manual processing, where it may take slightly longer. If approved, ETIAS will be valid for up to 3 years or until the date of the applicants passport expires. Unlike many other electronic visa systems, ETIAS will also ensure those who are denied the electronic visa, know the reason for their rejection. They will also be given information on the country or authority that decided against their applications approval.

ETIAS may only be used for short term tourism, business and transit journeys. All carriers such as airlines will check any passenger with an ETIAS before boarding. Should their ETIAS be outdated or have been rejected, the passenger will not be allowed to board the vessel and will not be refunded for their travel costs. This includes all forms of travel.

Upon the passengers arrival at their destination EU state, they will be checked by border control. Border control will base their admission decision on information in the EES system, the passengers ETIAS, as well as their travel documents. A passengers disposition be taken into account. Any passenger can be rejected for attitude or current state.

Should a passengers status change in any way, or an application be submitted untruthfully, ETIAS has the right to reverse an accepted visa. Annulled or revoked visas are dealt with by the nation that first receives such an applicant. A passenger with a revoked visa will usually be returned to their home nation or the nation from which they arrived. However, in these cases, an interview with the rejected passenger will take place. This is to better understand the circumstances.

ETIAS’ influence on pre-existing systems for non-EU citizens entering the EU will be minimal. ETIAS aims to make the several pre-existing systems scattered across various countries, into one cohesive system. This will in turn improve the speed of getting a visa and getting through border control as a non-EU citizen. It will also improve security at the same time. However, it is unlikely that applications through ETIAS will be any harder than it previously has been applying through an individuals own state.