UK holidaymakers planning a trip to Europe have been boosted as a major change has been delayed.
As part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the UK government negotiated for British citizens to be subject to the Etias rules. Once the change comes into force, every visitor entering the designated countries will need to have their fingerprints and facial biometrics checked on arrival and departure.
The 'eurovisa' will cost £6 and was due to go live at the end of 2023. However, that date has now been pushed back to 2024 - as Mirror Online reports.
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The Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs at the European Commission in Brussels changed the launch date of the Etias scheme over the weekend. It is not the first time that the date has slipped back, suggesting that it could be moved again.
When it is fully functional, people from outside the 27 EU countries and wider Schengen area will have to register online and pay for a three year permit.Travellers will need to scan their passports or other travel documents at an automated self-service kiosk prior to crossing the border.
Preparations include the installation of passport-reading machines at external points of the Schengen Area that will replace manual passport stamping.
European Commission’s department for Migration and Home Affairs said: "EES will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers."
The system will log the following information for every traveller:
- Facial image
- Surname or family name
- First name or given names
- Date and place of birth
- Nationality or nationalities
- Gender
- Passport number, date and country of issuance as well as the expiry date
- Valid ETIAS or Schengen visa along with its duration and/or validity
- Travel information including the visitor’s points and dates of entries and exits, as well as overstays within the Schengen Zone
- Fingerprints
The 27 Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
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