From the beginning of next year, the EU will start applying electronic registration of entry into the Schengen area, and this obligation will cover all non-Schengen countries, and do not need a visa to enter the EU, which means that it will also apply to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The European Passenger Information and Entry Authorization System (ETIAS) will start to apply from the beginning of 2024, but at first nothing will change as the first six months travelers will only be informed about the new rules.
For the next six months, forms will begin to be filled out, except when entering the Schengen area for the first time.
Only from 2025 will ETIAS apply to all travelers who do not need a visa to enter the EU and do not belong to the Schengen zone and the EU.
According to the European Commission, the new form will cost seven euros, will be filled out electronically, and the registration certificate will in most cases arrive at the e-mail address within a few minutes.
In rare cases, approval can take up to two weeks, and in exceptional cases up to a month. The validity of the ETIAS is three years or until the expiry of the passport, whichever comes first. As before, the traveler will be able to stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days for a period of 180 days, after which the procedure proceeds from the beginning.
Frontex, the European Border Service, which will apply the agreement, previously told us that ETIAS will apply to citizens of slightly more than 60 countries around the world, including the Western Balkan countries that do not need a visa to enter the EU.
"ETIAS will further strengthen Europe's internal security by carrying out a passenger screening process prior to their travel to determine whether they pose a security threat, illegal migration or a public health risk," they say. They add that this is a very complex system that will be managed by Frontex.
"The system consists of a central unit maintained by Frontex, national units stationed in 30 European countries and a large information system to be maintained by the EU Agency for Operational Management and IT Technologies," they stressed.
The system was first announced in 2016, and the announced implementation was supposed to begin in 2021. However, there have been several technical delays, first until early 2022 and then until early 2023, to make the last information the beginning of next year.
Although the system will cost seven euros, it will speed up movement at the border, and passengers will rarely be subjected to detailed checks, given that the whole process will be done online.
Although there was some confusion in the first period, the EU clarified that applicants would not be required to submit health data or biometric data in order to obtain this permission.
When filling out the online form, passengers will need to provide their first and last name, place and date of birth, passport information, address, e-mail, phone number and similar information.