Europe Will Add a $7 Fee for Americans Starting Next Year
The European Union has launched of its previously announced visa waiver scheme, ETIAS. Set to debut in late 2023, the program will come with a fee of about $7 dollars for Americans and visitors from more than other 50+ countries.
ETIAS stands for ‘European Travel Information and Authorisation System’. The European Union has created this program to protect and strengthen its borders. The main goal of ETIAS for Europe is to identify possible threats or risks associated with visitors traveling to any of the Schengen Area countries.
The ETIAS travel authorization will be needed to enter a Schengen member country, plus Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania which are in the process of joining the Schengen Area. All visitors that do not need a visa to enter Europe will be expected to register with ETIAS. That includes countries like the Unites States, UK, Australia and more. Nothing changes for those who previously needed a visa to enter the EU.
The ETIAS visa waiver has been designed for short-term stays of up to 90 days and will cost €7 ($7.40) for all persons aged between 18 and 70. It’s not clear what the price will be for those outside that age bracket.
The application will be available online for all visa-exempt travelers who wish to visit one or more countries in the Schengen zone. Travelers need to meet the ETIAS requirements in order to complete and receive an ETIAS travel authorization. To apply online for the ETIAS, applicants need a valid passport, an email address, and a debit or credit card to pay for the €7 ($7.40) application fee.
Most applications will be processed within minutes and the applicant will receive a confirmation message with the travel authorization sent to the email address provided.
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Not a fan of these add on fees just saying anyone in theUS whining about it (only 7 Euroapetwon which won’t break anyone) needs to shut u when our government does the exact same thing.
It’s not the cash that’s the problem, it’s the sheer stupidity. Let’s say that you have a friend that does something stupid that annoys you. Is the way to handle that to annoy that friend back? Not for grownups, of course, but that’s exactly my point. Sadly, I expected more rational behavior from our European pals.
The US has a similar such fee so we really can’t complain
So we act stupid and they illustrate our stupidity by doing the same? It’s like Florida Man saying hold my beer.