ETIAS Countdown for Your Trip
Enter your Europe trip date and passport nationality to get the countdown to the ETIAS start, an eligibility verdict and the fee for your group.
Your countdown and verdict
| Checkpoint | Value | What it means |
|---|
What to prepare
The start date above is a planning assumption you can edit, not an EU announcement. No official start date exists as of October 4, 2026. Countdowns are calendar days from today to that date and to your trip.
ETIAS Countdown: Days Until ETIAS Applies to Your Trip
This ETIAS countdown answers one question with a date instead of a maybe: how many days are there between today and the point at which you would need a travel authorisation for your European trip, and does your passport even fall inside the scheme. Give it a trip date and a nationality and it returns three things: a countdown in days to the expected ETIAS start, a verdict — ETIAS required, not required yet for your dates, or you need a Schengen visa instead — and the cost for your whole group at EUR 20 each. Because the EU has published no start date, the tool uses an editable planning date you can change the moment an announcement lands. Background reading sits in our ETIAS eligibility checker, the ETIAS guide for US citizens and the ETIAS 2027 delay update. European visa costs are tracked in our Schengen visa cost 2026 guide, and multi-stop European trips can be modelled in the visa calculator.
ETIAS Launch Timeline: What Is Actually Confirmed
ETIAS has slipped repeatedly, so the honest version of the timeline separates what is written down from what is reported. The regulation creating ETIAS was adopted in 2018 and the start date has moved more than once since. The official EU ETIAS site now says only that the system is not in operation and no applications are collected, and that the Union will announce the specific start date several months before launch. The previously published target of the last quarter of 2026 disappeared from that site in July 2026 without a press release, and nothing replaced it.
| Milestone | Date | What is confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| ETIAS regulation adopted | 2018 | Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 creates the system and sets the original fee |
| EES progressive start | October 12, 2025 | The Entry/Exit System ETIAS depends on began registering biometrics |
| Fee raised to EUR 20 | July 16, 2025 | Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1411 replaced EUR 7 with EUR 20 |
| EES fully operational | April 10, 2026 | Biometric entry-exit registration across 29 European countries |
| Last-quarter-2026 target removed | July 2026 | The official site dropped the launch window with no replacement date |
| eu-LISA management board meets | November 17-19, 2026 | Next scheduled milestone where a revised timeline is expected |
| Commission sets the start date | To be announced | The Commission alone formally sets it, several months ahead of launch |
That is why the countdown tool keeps its start date editable. Until an official announcement exists, the responsible approach is a planning date — the working assumption across the travel industry has moved to 2027, with early 2027 the earliest period seriously discussed — held lightly and replaced the moment the EU publishes something firm. Track the moving parts in our ETIAS delay explainer and never pay a third-party site for an authorisation that the official service does not yet sell.
Who Needs ETIAS and Who Needs a Visa Instead
ETIAS exists only for people who already travel to the Schengen area without a visa, so the first fork in the road is your passport, not your trip date. Fifty-nine visa-free countries and territories are covered, and the list is fixed by the EU rather than by demand. If your nationality is on it, ETIAS is in your future; if it is not, nothing about your travel changes, because you already apply for a Schengen visa and ETIAS never replaces that route.
| Group | Examples | What you do after ETIAS starts |
|---|---|---|
| Needs ETIAS (59 nationalities) | United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Israel, UAE, Ukraine, Serbia, Hong Kong, Taiwan | Apply online before travel, pay EUR 20, travel on the approved authorisation for three years |
| Needs a Schengen visa | India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia | Keep applying for a visa; ETIAS changes nothing for you |
| European nationals and exempt holders | Citizens of the 30 ETIAS countries, family members of EU citizens with the right card, diplomatic and service passport holders | No authorisation and no fee under the exemptions |
The 30 countries that will demand an ETIAS are every EU member state except Ireland, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Inside them, an approved authorisation covers short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period — the same budget your Schengen days are counted from, which our Schengen 90/180 calculator tracks. If your trip straddles the start date, the countdown tells you which side of the line you land on rather than leaving you guessing.
Cost, Validity and What to Prepare
The fee is EUR 20 per traveller, raised from the EUR 7 written into the 2018 regulation by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1411 of July 16, 2025, which took effect once ETIAS became payable. The rise was justified by inflation since 2016, more visa-free arrivals and added system functionality, and it aligns the price with the UK ETA and US ESTA. Applicants under 18 or over 70, and family members of EU citizens, pay nothing while still needing their own authorisation. A group of four adults therefore costs EUR 80 — the figure the countdown prints — and one payment covers three years of travel.
Validity runs three years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, so an authorisation tied to a passport that expires in fourteen months dies with that passport. Prepare four things before the system opens: a passport valid well past your planned trips, an email address and payment card for each traveller, a clear itinerary for the first application, and the habit of re-checking the official site rather than a booking intermediary. The application itself is expected to take minutes with an automated decision, though manual reviews will exist for flagged cases. What you do not need to prepare is a document today — see the ETIAS application walkthrough for the field-by-field version.
How the Countdown Behaves Before and After the Start Date
The tool splits into three states. Before the start date — trip dates in 2026 and early 2027 — the verdict is not required yet, with the countdown to the expected start printed next to it. Existing rules apply in full: visa-exempt travellers arrive with nothing but a passport, and the 90/180 day budget continues unchanged. Planning a booking on that basis is fine, because the EU has committed to notice.
On or after the start date, eligible nationalities flip to ETIAS required and the group fee applies. Two cushions soften the cutover. A six-month transitional period follows the start date during which travellers can still enter without an authorisation if they meet the other entry requirements. Then a six-month grace period covers first-time arrivals since the transitional period ended, while everyone already entered is treated as covered. After those windows, no authorisation means no boarding. For non-eligible passports the tool ignores the countdown altogether and returns the visa path, because ETIAS was never part of your journey.
ETIAS Countdown FAQs
Has ETIAS launched yet?
No. As of October 4, 2026 the system is not in operation and no applications are being collected. The earlier last-quarter-2026 target was removed from the official EU site in July 2026 and no replacement date has been published. The EU says it will announce the start date several months in advance, and the Commission alone formally sets it.
How much does ETIAS cost?
EUR 20 per application. The original 2018 figure of EUR 7 was raised by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1411 of 16 July 2025, which replaced Article 18(1) of the ETIAS regulation. Applicants under 18 or over 70, and family members of EU citizens, do not pay the fee, though they still need their own authorisation.
How long is an ETIAS travel authorisation valid?
Three years, or until the passport used in the application expires, whichever comes first. Within that window you can make as many short stays as the rules allow, up to 90 days in any 180-day period. If you get a new passport you must apply again, because the authorisation is linked to the travel document.
How many nationalities need ETIAS?
Nationals of 59 visa-free countries and territories, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Israel, the UAE, Ukraine and Serbia. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan passport holders are included.
Which nationalities cannot use ETIAS at all?
Anyone whose passport requires a Schengen visa for a short stay. ETIAS only exists for visa-exempt travellers, so Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nigerian, Indonesian, Russian, Vietnamese, Turkish and Egyptian passport holders and others in that position apply for a Schengen visa instead and see no change from ETIAS.
Do US, UK, Canadian and Australian citizens need ETIAS?
Yes. All four are on the 59-nation visa-free list, so once ETIAS starts operating their citizens need an approved authorisation for short stays in the 30 European countries that require it, including for business trips and transit through those borders.
How many European countries require ETIAS?
Thirty: every EU member state except Ireland, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Ireland stays out because it is not in the Schengen area, and ETIAS does not apply to travel between Ireland and the rest of the EU for residents with free-movement rights.
What happens during the transition after ETIAS starts?
A six-month transitional period follows the start date, during which travellers can still enter without an ETIAS if they meet the other entry requirements. A further six-month grace period then covers first-time arrivals since the transitional period ended; after that everyone in scope needs an authorisation. The EU has promised several months of notice before enforcement begins.
Do I need ETIAS for a trip before the start date?
No. Until the EU publishes a start date and it passes, nothing changes: visa-exempt travellers enter on the existing rules, with no authorisation and no fee. The countdown on this page shows how far away the expected start is so you can plan, but you should not pay anyone for ETIAS before the official site opens.
Is ETIAS a visa?
No. ETIAS is a pre-travel authorisation for short stays only, screening visa-exempt visitors before they arrive. Staying longer than 90 days in any 180, studying, working or moving to a European country still requires the appropriate national visa or residence permit, which ETIAS never replaces.
How We Fact-Checked This Countdown
Every fact was checked on October 4, 2026 against primary sources: the official EU ETIAS site at travel-europe.europa.eu/etias (not in operation, no applications collected, no published start date, 30 European countries, 59 visa-free nationalities, EUR 20 fee, three-year validity), Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1411 of July 16, 2025 for the fee change from EUR 7 to EUR 20, the EU Council visa-policy pages for the visa-free country list, and eu-LISA for system status. The transitional and grace periods follow the ETIAS regulation. Because the start date is unpublished, the countdown runs on an editable planning date of April 1, 2027 — a planning assumption, not an EU announcement — and the next scheduled milestone is the eu-LISA management board meeting on November 17-19, 2026. Re-check the official site before booking.