ETIAS Visa Waiver for short stays in Europe

Understanding eligibility and requirements for ETIAS

ETIAS Visa Waiver is mandatory for trips to such countries whose purpose is either business, tourism, transit and medical treatment provided of course that the traveller holds a passport of a Visa Waiver eligible country. But even with such binding preliminary conditions ETIAS is not valid for all sorts of travels. Another paramount conditions is indeed that the total stay within the ETIAS Area as a whole must never exceed 90 days inside a 6 months period.

Hence travellers wishing to stay for longer periods of time and/or that plan to study or work in an ETIAS country will still have to apply for a specific Consular Visa. That naturally also includes, regardless of purpose and duration of the journey, all those travellers that do not have Visa Waiver rights to the Schengen Area. On the other hand, holding a valid ETIAS Visa Waiver is not required travel condition to citizens of any country if they already possess a valid Schengen Visa or a Permit of Stay issued by one of the 29 States that currently belong in the Schengen Area or its 4 de facto Members (therefore currently excluding the 1 EU Nation, Cyprus, that is bound to adhere to the border free travel area in the near future).

While not being suitable for long term study programs in the EU / Schengen Area, ETIAS Visa Waiver can be used for short term study programs (such as company arranged training classes, language classes and cooking classes) if the traveller is a National one of the 60 Visa Waiver eligible countries and if the stay in the ETIAS countries area will not exceed the aforementioned threshold of 90 days within 180 days.

Travel to Europe destinations

France
France
Italy
Germany
Germany
VIEW ALL COUNTRIES

Each ETIAS Visa Waiver eligible country could have distinct prerequisites.

It is therefore advised for each traveller to click on their country of passport so as to view essential details on the matter.

It is as well important to underline that being in possession of a valid ETIAS Visa Waiver does not automatically imply that the person will be allowed into the Schengen Area. The final decision on incoming passenger to the ETIAS Member Countries Area are always made by the relevant border control authorities and ETIAS EU cannot exercise any control over such decision-making process. Even if the ETIAS system carries out a pre-screening over duration and purpose of the trip to Europe, travellers might indeed also be asked to provide additional proof to assess the genuine aim of their journey.

 

Supplementary documents could include:

  • Return ticket to the country of origin;
  • Onwards ticket to a non-ETIAS Member Country where the person has a proven right to enter (e.g., valid visa, valid permit of stay, visa exemption);
  • Proof of travel health insurance;
  • Proof of sufficient funds to cover one’s stay in the ETIAS Area;

Check the full list of ETIAS eligible countries

The list of the 60 countries whose nationals are eligible for ETIAS includes the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, Brazil and many more.

USA
UK
Canada
Australia
VIEW ALL ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES