These European Countries Will Require You Register Before Visiting In 2021

Schengen Area’s ETIAS Takes Effect Next Year; Americans Included In Requirement

Travelers going to the Greek Islands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Iceland and several other countries will need more than their passports starting in 2021.

They will also need to register to go there, as part of the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, which kicks in next year.

Travelers from 60 countries – including the USA, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Israel – must register to visit places in the so-called Schengen area. This is different than the European Union, tho some countries are in both.

Countries in the Schengen area are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

You can request ETIAS authorization by completing an application found here on the ETIAS website. Naturally, there is a fee for this, tho it’s so small even the prickliest of travelers shouldn’t put up much of a fuss about it. The fee is 7 euros and the authorization is good for three years.

“Pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area” is the phrasing the ETIAS uses in describing the system.

If you’re even thinking of going to any of these countries in the next few years, PubClub.com recommends going ahead and applying now so you don’t have to worry about it later. “Completing the online application should not take more than 10 minutes with automatic approval being given in over 95% of cases,” the European Commission posted in a statement.

It should be noted that the ETIAS authorization is not a visa.