British travellers will not need an online permit to visit the European Union and wider Schengen Area until April 2027 at the earliest.
The Independent has studied documents issued in Brussels that reveal a staggered roll-out for the much-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES).
The EES was supposed to replace the requirement for “wet-stamping” of passports. For several months many UK visitors will need to have their passports stamped and biometrics taken, doubling the amount of red tape – and extending queues at airports, railway stations and ferry ports.
The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), known informally as a euro-visa, cannot take effect until six months after the EES is working at all Schengen Area frontiers. These include land borders from the Norway-Russia crossing in the Arctic to the Greece-Turkey frontier in southeast Europe, as well as every airport with direct flights from the UK and other non-Schengen nations.
The Schengen Area includes all EU nations except Ireland and Cyprus, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The EES was due to launch with a “big bang” across all Schengen frontiers on 10 November 2024. But the plan was scrapped one month ahead of the deadline when it became clear that the central database and member states would not be ready.
More information was promised “within weeks” about the next steps – but it is only this month that details of the revised plan have become clear.
From information published by the EU Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, The Independent can reveal that the haphazard launch of the EU Entry/Exit System has taken another twist.
Brussels has proposed “a progressive start of operations of the EES,” saying: “This would give border authorities and the transport industry more time to adjust to the new procedures.”
To roll out the system gradually, though, a new regulation must be passed in Brussels – because the original insisted on the “big bang” introduction.
Home Affairs ministers have endorsed this plan, with the European Commission – the EU’s civil service – to set a specific date in October 2025 for the EES to begin to be applied.
Initially, though, as few as one in 10 frontier posts will be connected to the central database that is at the heart of the EES system, and biometric elements – face and fingerprints – will be only optional for the first two months.
By April 2026, it is hoped that the Entry/Exit System will be working across the Schengen Area. The EU says it must be fully functional for six months before Etias is introduced.
The EU says: “Starting six months after EES, some 1.4 billion people from 59 visa-exempt countries and territories are required to have a travel authorisation to enter most European countries.”
But “required” is not exactly correct. It will be only on a voluntary basis for a further six months.
The earliest, therefore, that any British traveller or other “third-country national” will need an Etias, price €7 (£6), is April 2027.
The UK travel industry has spent over £100m on getting ready for the EES, with Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and Eurostar installing new equipment and systems.
Timeline for EES and Etias
October 2025: EU Entry/Exit System starts across at least 10 per cent of frontier posts, with central registration of people crossing the border in or out of the Schengen Area. But the biometric elements – face and fingerprints – will not be mandatory for the first 60 days; it may be that some states do this anyway. Passports continue to be stamped.
December 2025: Biometrics become mandatory at frontier posts operating the EES.
January 2026: By now, “member states should operate the Entry/Exit System – with biometric functionalities – at a minimum of half of their border crossing points”. In other words, a majority of visitors are likely to experience “double red tape”: providing EES biometrics but continuing to have passports stamped as well.
April 2026: Roll-out of Entry/Exit System should be complete. Only when the EES is running flawlessly across Europe will passports stop being stamped.
October 2026 (or later): Etias may finally come into play. The EU says: “Etias is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026.” But for the first six months the will be optional.
April 2027 (or later): Etias becomes compulsory, though with a concession that travellers without one will, on their first attempt to enter the Schengen Area, be allowed in.
October 2027 (or later): Etias is fully compulsory.
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