The purpose of eu-LISA's ETIAS Visa Waiver program, according to the ETIAS website, is to prescreen visitors who are exempt from a visa requirement to Schengen area countries and identify potential risks and security concerns. 9 The ETIAS website states that all current visa-exempt visitors for Europe will be required to complete the visa waiver application prior to travel, and, once approved, the visitor's waiver is valid for up to three years, allowing multiple visits lasting no longer than 90 days within a 180 day period. 10
Air Carrier Obligations8:
- Air carriers, sea carriers, and international carriers transporting groups overland by coach shall use the carrier interface to verify whether travelers subjects to the travel authorization requirement are in possession of a valid travel authorization (Article 45(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240) 11.
- According to Article 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/12174, the verification query shall be introduced at the earliest 48 hours prior to the scheduled time of departure. Carriers shall ensure that only duly authorized staff have access to the carrier interface. The carriers shall put in place at least physical and logical access control mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access to the infrastructure, or the systems used by the carriers, authentication, logging to ensure access traceability, and regular review of the access rights.
- The carrier obligations stipulated in Article 26 of Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement 12 (CISA) remain unchanged. Querying the carrier interface is an additional obligation.
Date of Implementation
The Council of the EU has decided ETIAS will enter operations in May 2023. 8
Travelers who fall within the scope of ETIAS 8:
- ETIAS travel authorization is required for travelers who meet all the following criteria:
- they are not EU nationals;
- they are citizens of a country whose nationals are not required to have a visa to travel to any of the European countries requiring ETIAS;
- they do not have a residence permit/card/document issued by any of the European countries requiring ETIAS.