You Can Still Travel to Europe Without ETIAS – But the Clock Is Ticking!
Foreign nationals who enjoy visa-free entry to European countries will not need to obtain the ETIAS travel authorisation until at least April 2027.
Although the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) has been under development for years, the EU’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs now expects it to become active only after the rollout of a separate system — the Entry Exit System, known as EES.
The EES, which has faced several delays, is finally expected to be introduced in October 2025. Member countries will begin using it gradually over six months, with full deployment scheduled for early 2026.
In the first month of the rollout, EU countries are expected to record only a fraction of travellers. During the first two months, the system will operate without capturing biometric data. But by January 2026, biometric functionality is expected to be fully active. A complete rollout is planned to be wrapped up by April 2026.
Once this entry tracking system is up and running, ETIAS will come next. Authorities have confirmed that ETIAS will launch about six months after EES, likely around October 2026.
But even then, it won’t be mandatory right away. For the first six months, ETIAS will be in a soft launch phase. Travellers from countries that don’t require a visa to enter Europe can still visit without it, as long as they meet regular entry requirements.
This soft phase will last until April 2027. At that point, the EU will make ETIAS a requirement for most foreign travellers. However, there will still be a grace period. Anyone making their first trip into Europe since the requirement came into force will have until October 2027 to adjust.
So in effect, ETIAS becomes mandatory in two stages — first for most travellers in April 2027, and then for everyone else by October 2027.
The new rules will apply to people from 59 countries who currently enjoy visa-free access to the 30 European countries that are part of the Schengen Zone or aligned with it. That’s more than 1.4 billion travellers who will soon need a travel clearance before arriving in Europe.
