Europe Keeps Its New Border System and Delays the €20 Travel Permit
Travel
Key Facts
—The permit. ETIAS, a pre-travel authorisation costing 20 euros, or about 23 dollars, is now expected to launch in 2027 rather than late 2026.
—The reason. EU officials say a 2026 launch is no longer feasible while the separate EES border system is still causing chaos.
—The other system. The EES, live since April 2026, replaces passport stamps with fingerprints and facial scans for non-EU travellers.
—The decision. Despite hours-long queues at some airports, the EU has ruled out suspending the EES, calling that neither needed nor possible.
—The scope. ETIAS will eventually apply to visitors from roughly 60 visa-exempt countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
The likely ETIAS delay is welcome news for anyone planning a European trip. The bloc’s new paid travel permit looks set to slip to 2027, giving visitors more time before another hurdle appears.
Two separate systems are at the heart of this, and it is easy to confuse them. One is the EES, a border-control system already running; the other is ETIAS, a pre-travel permit not yet launched.
The news this month is that the EU will keep the first despite its problems. The second is being pushed back, according to reporting in the Financial Times and elsewhere.
The distinction matters because each system touches a different moment in your journey. The EES operates at the border itself, when you arrive or leave; ETIAS will be something you handle online before you even book a flight.
What the ETIAS delay means for travellers
ETIAS is Europe’s answer to the American ESTA. It is an online authorisation that visa-exempt visitors will have to obtain, and pay for, before travelling to the Schengen area.
The Schengen area is the zone of European countries that have dropped passport checks at their shared borders, allowing free movement inside. It includes most EU member states plus a few non-EU countries, making it one of the world’s largest travel areas without internal frontier controls.
The fee is twenty euros, roughly twenty-three dollars, and the permit is meant to last three years or until the passport expires. It was due to start in the final quarter of 2026.
That timetable now looks unrealistic. EU officials briefed on the talks say a 2026 launch is no longer feasible, blaming lingering IT problems and the strain of running two big systems at once.
The agency in charge is expected to set a new timeline in September. For travellers the practical upshot is simple: for now, no permit and no fee are required to visit Europe.
This is not the first slip. ETIAS was first floated years ago and has been repeatedly postponed, and the fee has crept up from an originally planned seven euros to the current twenty.
The pattern of delays raises questions about whether the setup and coordination needed to run both systems smoothly are truly in place. It also shows the challenge of rolling out continent-wide digital border systems across dozens of countries with different languages, airports and technical means.
Why is the ETIAS delay happening now?
Because the other system is struggling. The EES, or Entry/Exit System, went fully live in April 2026 and has caused long queues at many airports and border crossings.
The EES replaces the old passport stamp with a digital record. Non-EU travellers now give fingerprints and a facial scan on first entry, with children under twelve exempt from the fingerprinting.
The rollout has been rocky enough that airlines and airports asked for the EES to be suspended over the summer. The logic on ETIAS follows plainly: clean up one system before switching on another.
The decision reflects a practical call by European authorities that adding a second new requirement on top of a troubled system would risk more disruption. Whether the extra months will be enough to smooth out the EES problems remains an open question.
Why the EES stays despite the chaos
Even as it delays ETIAS, the EU has refused to pause the EES. Officials acknowledged around twenty trouble spots with serious queues but said a full suspension was neither needed nor possible.
There is a safety valve, but a temporary one. Airports may pause the biometric checks when queues become unmanageable, yet that flexibility is set to expire in September.
The travel industry wants more than a pause. Airline and airport bodies have pressed the Commission for extra staff, better border facilities and wider use of pre-registration apps to cut the queues at source.
The system covers the Schengen countries plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, while Ireland and Cyprus stay outside it. For a frequent traveller, the first biometric registration is the slow part; later crossings should be quicker.
When ETIAS does arrive, a grace period is planned. For at least the first six months, travellers without the authorisation will not be turned away as long as they meet the other entry conditions.
The grace period is meant to ease the switch and avoid chaos at borders when the new rule takes effect. How strictly it will be enforced, and whether it might be extended if problems persist, will depend on how the rollout unfolds.
Why should our readers care?
Because many of our readers move between Latin America and Europe for work or family, and these two systems reshape that journey. The delay buys time; the EES does not, and is already in force.
The practical advice is unchanged. Budget extra time at European borders this year for the biometric checks, and watch for the September decision that will finally fix a start date for the permit.
It is worth keeping the two straight in your own planning. The border checks are here now and affect this year’s trips; the paid permit is a future step that, for the moment, has quietly moved further away.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will ETIAS launch?
It is now expected in 2027, rather than the final quarter of 2026. EU officials say a 2026 launch is no longer feasible, and a new timeline is expected in September.
How much does ETIAS cost?
The fee is twenty euros, roughly twenty-three dollars. The permit is meant to last three years or until the passport expires.
What is the difference between EES and ETIAS?
The EES is a border-control system already running, working when you arrive or leave. ETIAS is a pre-travel permit, not yet launched, that you will handle online before you book a flight.
Is the EES being suspended?
No. Despite long queues at some airports, the EU has ruled out a full suspension. Airports may pause the biometric checks when queues become unmanageable, but that flexibility expires in September.
Who will need an ETIAS permit?
ETIAS will eventually apply to visitors from roughly 60 visa-exempt countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia. A grace period is planned for at least the first six months after launch.
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