The main purpose of ETIAS was to improve the security of EU countries within the Schengen area, while allowing travellers to visit the Schengen area without a visa.
ETIAS will screen travellers from “third countries”, meaning citizens of countries that do not need a Schengen visa. The screening will relate to terrorism checks or immigration-related risks.
The aim is to identify people who pose a security threat before they travel to the Schengen area. ETIAS applies to visa-exempt travellers and is not a visa.
Individuals who visit European member states without a visa will need to obtain ETIAS from 2024 onwards. Only holders of EU passports are exempt from ETIAS.
ETIAS is based on four main reasons:
- Many people visit Europe: around 50 million visitors last year and over 200 million entries.
- The number of migrants seeking asylum for various reasons, including war, persecution, economic benefits and so on, has risen significantly in recent years.
- Terrorist incidents have increased, and this has raised concerns among European citizens. Countries affected recently include France, Belgium, Germany and Spain.
- Electronic communication has brought an advantage in obtaining information that helps European border authorities and security personnel.
Which countries are in the Schengen area?
There are three different categories of countries in relation to the European Schengen area. The 26 Schengen countries largely overlap with the 27 countries of the European Union, but some countries are in Schengen and not in the EU, and vice versa. Schengen countries have uniform immigration rules and freedom of movement for each other’s citizens.
- The first category includes EU and Schengen citizens, who have no restrictions.
- The second category includes citizens of a large number of non-European countries. They do not need a visa to visit Europe, but there are restrictions on their stay and on what they can do there, in particular if they want to study, work or live there for more than 3 months at a time. This group will be affected by ETIAS; it includes Americans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese, Malaysians and many others. This group can apply for the ETIAS visa waiver.
- The third category includes citizens of non-European countries who need a visa before travelling to Europe. Most of these individuals are from the world’s poorer countries or from countries with weaker cultural and economic ties to the EU.
