ETIAS mobile app

The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), European Union’s new pre-clearance travel system for visa waiver visitors, will become fully operational starting from early 2025. Being an electronic visa waiver, ETIAS application will never require candidates to personally go to a Consulate or Embassy to submit their documents; on the other hand, and unlike most visa application, ETIAS application process will need to be completed, submitted and paid for online only.

All applicants are hence required, basically, to have access to a desktop or portable computer, an internet connection and a credit or debit card that would allow them to carry out online transactions. Still, since many people now tend to use mobile smartphones rather than computers, the EU decided that a mobile app will also soon be available to favor accessibility from all potential candidates regardless of their geographic location at the time of their application. 

When to use ETIAS app

ETIAS mobile app, like the more common computer application, will always be available to users. There are some particular cases, although, where the mobile app will likely prove itself to be extremely useful. Such scenarios include: 

  • People that do not possess a laptop or a desktop computer.
  • People needing to apply immediately but constantly on the move and unable to access a computer at home or in the office.
  • Visitors who need to visit an ETIAS country due to sudden and unforeseen circumstances and therefore need to get the Visa Waiver as soon as possible.


ETIAS app languages

According to Article 16 in the ETIAS regulations the application form and related guideline will be made available in all official languages in use in any of the EU/Schengen member countries. These include English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese and many more. It is still not clear to this day if the ETIAS application form will be available in one or more languages that are not in use in the EU. 

Launch date

A precise launch date is yet to be announced. It is legitimate to expect that the app will be made available at the same time with the online application form; but this will not happen before mid-2025. 

Moreover, for the first six months after its official inception, the ETIAS requirement will not be strictly enforced as there will be a transitional period leading into early 2025.

When released the ETIAS app will be available from the major app marketplaces and stores and will be compatible with Apple and Android devices. The downloading process is the same as that for other apps and an ETIAS icon will be placed on the device’s screen. While a tax will be charged in order to submit the ETIAS application itself, the mobile app will most likely be downloadable for free.  

Using ETIAS mobile app

Even though operational details have not yet been confirmed it has been clarified that the Mobile App application will not differ from the online one since the data required to candidates will be the same.

Such information will include:

  • personal data like full name and surname, birthplace, birth country, birth date
  • scheduled travel to EU related information
  • eligibility and background questions

since each information required is to be reported correctly and truthfully and since any mistake or omission could lead to a rejection of the Visa Waiver application or to problems upon arrival in the Schengen Area, applicants are recommended to be extremely careful when filling out the ETIAS application form especially through the small screen and keyboard of a mobile device.

General notions on ETIAS

ETIAS is not a visa but a pre-clearance (electronically linked to a passport) to access, as short-term visitors, the countries that make up the European Union and Schengen Area, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland. It has been designed to strengthen the security of the external borders to the Schengen free travel area and so as to prevent criminal and terrorist activity across the whole of Europe.

All EU and Schengen Area citizens will be exempt from such obligation, but non-EU and non-Schengen passport holders will, from 2025, be required to have obtained an ETIAS approval before beginning their travel towards United Europe.