It was very easy for a US citizen, Canadian and UK nationals to travel on a short notice to many countries such as Canada, Mexico, many Latin-American countries and the European Union without needing a visa. Well, things are about to change (possibly mid-2025). It will be required to fill out the document ETIAS to enter the European Union.
ETIAS is an entry requirement for a visa exempt national to a list of 30 countries part of the European Union, the good news is that it is valid for up to 3 years or whenever the passport expires.
The caveat to this document is that it won’t guarantee the entrance to the country. A border guard will still verify that the entry requirements are met.
The process can take minutes or up to 4 days. 14 days if additional documentation is needed and up to 30 days if called to an interview.
Once authorized to enter, the name in your passport should match the document to be able to board the flight and to pass through the border, Also, it will be necessary to carry this document during your stay,
Many other countries have to go through a similar process, it could be possible that other countries will join a similar process as this one for security purposes. The visa or other entry requirements to other countries do not seem complicated or expensive (so far in the ETIAS website is 7 euros) as the visa requirements to enter the US.
Always check the country’s consulate that you plan to visit for their requirements and your country’s as well. For example, US department of state have links to the country’s consulate, visa, other requirements and alerts to that country.
The 30 countries that require the ETIAS are the following:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
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