ETIAS gets discussed online as though it already has a launch date, a fixed process and a settled place in every traveller's planning. As of September 2026, several of the most-repeated claims about it are not what the European Commission has actually published. Here is what is confirmed, and what genuinely is not.
What ETIAS actually is
ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, is not a visa. It is a pre-travel screening and authorisation requirement for travellers who are already visa-exempt for short stays but will need to apply for permission online before departure. The European Commission describes it as "a new travel requirement for visa-free travellers visiting 30 European countries for a short stay (i.e. for up to 90 days within any 180-day period)."
That 30-country figure is one country more than the EES's 29, and the extra country is Cyprus, which the Commission separately confirms applies ETIAS "and" the Schengen Area, "a total of 30 European countries" — a mismatch this site covers in more depth elsewhere, since Cyprus does not run the EES itself.
The fee, and who is exempt
The Commission has confirmed a specific figure, and it is higher than what was originally planned. "The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) fee will be EUR 20 instead of the previous EUR 7," it states, alongside the exemption: "Certain groups, including individuals under 18 or over 70, will be exempt from paying the fee." Those are the only two age-based exemption groups the Commission has confirmed in the material this guide reviewed; do not assume other groups are exempt unless you have confirmed it directly on the Commission's own pages.
No start date has been announced
This is the sentence worth reading twice: ETIAS does not have a confirmed launch date, and this guide will not manufacture one. The Commission states plainly that it "will inform about the specific date for the start of ETIAS several months prior to its launch," and as of the most recent Commission update reviewed for this guide, the system was described as "scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026," with the caveat that "the exact start date of ETIAS will be officially communicated later this year."
An expected quarter is not a date. Quarters have shifted before in the run-up to major EU border-system launches, and nothing published by the Commission commits to a specific day, week or even month within that window. Any article, app or commercial "ETIAS application" service stating an exact go-live date is stating more than the EU itself has confirmed.
What to actually do right now
Nothing. There is no application to submit, no account to create, and no fee to pay yet, because the Commission confirms "no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point." If you are planning travel for later in 2026 or into 2027, the only useful preparation is knowing that you may eventually need ETIAS if you are a visa-exempt nationality travelling to the Schengen Area or Cyprus, and checking back on the Commission's own ETIAS pages as your travel date approaches, rather than acting on a date quoted by a third-party site.
Why the fee doubled from the original plan
The jump from a previously planned EUR 7 to the confirmed EUR 20 is worth understanding rather than treating as an arbitrary increase. The Commission's own announcement frames it as a revision to the originally proposed amount, made before the system went live, rather than a later price rise after launch. Because ETIAS has not started collecting fees from anyone yet, EUR 20 is the number to plan around, not a temporary or introductory rate that might later increase further; nothing in the Commission's material suggests further changes are planned.
How the exemptions actually work in practice
Being under 18 or over 70 exempts you from paying the EUR 20, but the Commission's wording is about the fee specifically, not the requirement itself. Read literally, an exempt traveller should still expect to complete whatever application or registration process ETIAS requires once it is live; they simply will not be charged for it. This guide has not seen official confirmation of a simplified application path for exempt age groups beyond the fee waiver, so do not assume the process itself is shorter for them until that is confirmed by the Commission.
Commercial "ETIAS application" sites
A number of commercial websites currently market ETIAS "applications" or "processing services," despite the system not yet accepting applications from anyone. Treat any site charging a fee to "apply" for ETIAS today with real caution, and rely only on the European Commission's own site, home-affairs.ec.europa.eu or travel-europe.europa.eu, for the actual, free, official application once it opens.
How this differs from EES, which is already running
Unlike ETIAS, the EU's Entry/Exit System is already fully operational, since 10 April 2026, and does not involve an application or fee at all — it is a border-registration system, not a pre-travel authorisation. If you are researching what actually happens at Prague Airport's own arrivals process now that stamping has ended, that is a separate, already-active system from the one covered here.
What to check before you rely on this
Because the start date is the single most consequential unresolved fact about ETIAS, check the Commission's own ETIAS policy page directly before making any plans that depend on it, and be skeptical of any source, including this one after enough time has passed, that states a specific launch date without linking to an official EU announcement.