I saw that sometime in 2025 Greece and other European countries will require travelers from the US to fill out and obtain an ETIAS entry form. I went to ETIAS.com to try to access the application which apparently is not ready yet, and saw that the requirement will go into effect "sometime" later in 2025. Planning on going to Greece in May. Does anyone have any other information as to when that requirement will go into effect? Best date I've seen is sometime after the middle of the year, which isn't very definitive.
Nothing official has been announced. All anyone can do is wait and periodically check for an official start date.
Previously it was said that the ETIAS would begin 6 months after the EES went into operation. That still hasn't started, do if they stick with that time line, ETIAS won't go into effect until summer at the earliest.
It is planned to start 6 months after Electronic Entry/Exit System (EES) is up and running, and that has not happened yet so it may be a while. No point in worrying about it now.
Thanks for the replies....one less thing to worry about lol.
Please take note that ETIAS.com is NOT the official website. It’s the site of a commercial company that has nothing to do with the EU.
The official website for ETIAS is https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en
This official website is the only website that you should rely on for information about ETIAS. When the time comes, this official website is also the only place where you should apply for your ETIAS.
From what I’ve seen it looks like November 2025 will be the start date for implementation of EES so we can reasonably assume ETIAS will be put into action within six months following which would mean around April 2026. Well, that’s a load off my back, so that we don’t have to worry about what I’ll need to enter the EU. I’m American. My wife is Italian.
11 November 2024
Entry/Exit System (EES)
Entry/Exit system is currently not in operation. It is due to start in 2025.
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees_en
This is what currently shows on the EU site. Not been updated since Nov,. 2024
Not see anything that suggests Nov 2025 will be the start date, for EES. It might happen, but the folks running the program have made no announcement as to what their next target date is. ( other than "in 2025")
From what I’ve seen it looks like November 2025 will be the start date for implementation of EES
The November 2025 start date for EES is probably for the EuroStar at the UK border ... but I'm not sure.
This has been postponed so often that I'm ignoring all guesses. I'll believe it will be put in implementation when an exact start date is announced. As well as an exact start date for online applications for ETIAS.
I just wanted to add that when it does go into effect, if the process is as easy as the UK ETA, it will only take a few minutes of your time.