Some EU Residence Permit Holders Will Need ETIAS to Visit Europe Starting Next Year
The EU’s online travel authorization system, modeled on the American ESTA program, will take effect next year. This interactive map shows which countries’ citizens will need to apply for one.
ETIAS.com has produced a useful, interactive map showing the status of each country in the world in relation to the new system. Countries fall into one of three categories; Those whose citizens will need to apply for ETIAS prior to travel, those who won’t (by virtue of membership in either the EU, Schengen, or both), and those countries to whom ETIAS doesn’t apply because they don’t have visa-free access to Schengen in the first place (these will need ordinary visas).
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The ETIAS, once obtained, is valid for three years. As things stand at the moment, UK citizens will also need an authorization by 2021 as the country is neither a Schengen nor an EU member.
Even those holding residence permits in the EU, according to ETIAS.com’s FAQ, will need travel authorizations if they are nationals of a country that has visa-free travel to Schengen. If this is correct, it may lead to a curious set of circumstances; Nationals of countries that don’t have visa-free travel to Schengen but who do have residence permits in a Schengen country (Chinese golden visa investors in Greece, for example) would need neither a visa nor ETIAS, while those from visa-waiver countries who hold residence permits in Schengen (say Americans who are golden visa investors in Portugal) would need it.
Authorities in many CIP-jurisdictions – notably in the Caribbean – are apprehensive about how ETIAS could affect the value of their programs. To learn more about how the system could impact the investment migration market, see: What All RCBI-Professionals Need to Know About ETIAS, Europe’s Upcoming Travel Authorization System