United Kingdom travellers to pay fee for entering European Union countries from 2022

Travellers from the United Kingdom, who are not European Union residents, are required to pay a fee to enter the countries within the European Union from next year. The non-European Union residents need to pay £5.89 to enter the 26 countries in the Schengen Area. A new travel authorisation system, European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) which is scheduled to begin in 2022 will supervise security documents and travel fees for travellers. 

As per the Daily Record report, ETIAS is a visa waiver system, wherein people travelling to 26 countries in the Schengen Area need to fill an online form and pay €7. Reportedly, travellers can submit their online form on the official website or the app available on mobile phones. The Schengen Area consists of 26 countries including popular tourist destinations for travellers. Britain does not fall under the Schengen Area which includes 26 countries, resulting in the travellers from the UK following the same rules as other residents of non-European Union countries. 

UK travellers to pay fees to enter EU 

Furthermore, most EU countries that fall under the Schengen area category enjoy unrestricted movement within the European Union except Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Cyprus. As per the Schengen Visa Info website, the 26 Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The system is expected to be launched on January 1, 2022, however, it will become operational for travellers by the end of 2022. 

As per the Schengen Visa Info website, a detailed security check of each applicant will be conducted under ETIAS to determine whether the person can be permitted to enter any Schengen Zone country. As per the Daily Record report, in some of the cases where more checking is required, the permit for travel could take up to 30 days. The ETIAS travel authorisation is mandatory and it will be checked along with the travel documents while crossing the border. 

(Image: AP/@OSKARK/Unsplash/Representative)