ETIAS scams: don’t pay for Europe’s travel permit yet

If you have booked a trip to Spain, France, Italy or Greece and found yourself searching for “ETIAS” online, be careful what you click. The EU’s new travel authorisation for visitors from outside the bloc is real. It just doesn’t exist yet and there is no launch date for ETIAS — and that gap is exactly what scammers are exploiting. 

What ETIAS actually is 

ETIAS — the European Travel Information and Authorisation System — is an online pre-travel check for visitors from visa-free countries, which since Brexit includes the UK. Once it is running, British travellers will need an approved authorisation before short trips to 30 European countries. It is not a visa, and it is separate from the Entry/Exit System (EES) fingerprint and face checks already in place at Europe’s borders. 

The official fee will be €20 (about £17) for adults aged 18 to 70. Under-18s and over-70s will still need one but won’t pay. Each authorisation will last three years, or until your passport expires if that comes sooner. 

Why you can’t buy one today 

ETIAS has been delayed again and again since its original 2021 start date. The EU’s most recent target, the final quarter of 2026, was quietly removed from the official website in July, and no new date has been set; most observers now expect 2027. The EU has promised several months’ notice before launch, followed by a transition period. 

So anyone selling you an “approved ETIAS” today is selling something that does not exist. Abta’s director of public affairs, Luke Petherbridge, put it bluntly to The Times: “You can’t – and shouldn’t – apply for an Etias now.” 

How the scam works 

According to Abta, European authorities have already identified more than 150 websites offering ETIAS. Some are outright fakes; others are middlemen promising to submit your application later for a hefty service charge. The EU border agency Frontex warns that many copy the look of genuine EU pages or use web addresses designed to seem official. 

The risk is twofold. First, money: you may pay several times the real fee for nothing at all. Second, and more serious, your data. An ETIAS form asks for your passport number, home address and card details — exactly what identity thieves want. 

We have seen this before. When the US introduced its ESTA travel authorisation, copycat sites charging inflated “processing” fees sprang up almost immediately, and many are still trading years later. 

How to protect yourself 

• Do nothing for now. No one needs ETIAS to travel to Europe today. 

• Bookmark the only official source: travel-europe.europa.eu/etias. When ETIAS opens there will be a single official website and app. 

• Check the web address, not the logo. Official EU sites end in europa.eu. A .com or .org address with EU stars on the page is not the EU. 

• Know the price. If it costs more than €20, someone is taking a cut. 

• Be wary of sponsored search results. Scam sites often pay to appear above the official page. 

• If you’ve already paid, contact your bank or card provider straight away and report the site as fraud. 

The bottom line 

ETIAS is coming, and it will become one more box to tick when planning a European holiday. But it isn’t here yet. Until the EU announces a launch date, the only safe ETIAS application is the one you don’t make.