EU Citizens, Visa

EES and ETIAS – 2025 Updates


There have been quite some buzz around these two systems in the beginning of 2025 on various social media. Since we value accurate data and honest information, we decided to write an article covering the topic. It is a short one, covering the most important basics. You’ll be done reading in five mins and you’ll get all the important information.

What is EES and ETIAS

First important thing to mention is that both of these systems only apply to third country nationals (outside of the EU) who now have the right to enter the Schengen Area with no visa required for stay up to 90 days. They also only concern the short-time stay (90 days).

So, the EES and ETIAS should not have any effect on traveling of EU citizens, non-EU citizens who already hold a valid long-term visa, long-term residence permit or a permanent residence permit, or British citizens covered by the Article 50.

EES – European – Entry/Exit System

Simply said, the EES is basically just moving the Entry and Exit stamps into an electronic form.

As of now, every time you cross the Schengen border (entering or leaving), you should get a stamp showing where and when you crossed. Based on the stamps, you and/or the immigration authorities can count if you have left in time or if you have overstayed.

This system is a bit outdated and leaves a lot of space for error (even our client sometimes do not get stamped when crossing the Schengen borders).

Along with inaccuracies, this system also does not leave a space to effectively track people overstaying their 90 days allowance.

The EES system should move all this into an electronic form which means that overstaying will basically be made impossible for people. Or more specifically, it will still keep overstaying possible but the authorities will know about that and can take appropriate actions.

ETIAS – European Travel Information and Authorization System

ETIAS is planned to launch 6 months after EES is launched. That means EES and ETIAS will not be happening at the same time. It is also possible that it will take longer than 6 months after EES to launch.

To simply explain what ETIAS mean, as of now, if you can use the 90 days visa-free travel to Schengen countries, you basically do not need to do anything special. You book a flight, board the plane, land in a Schengen country and get the stamp (we discussed above) to your passport. Similarly, you get stamped when you are boarding your flight to a non-Schengen country.

ETIAS simply means that before you can board a plane to a Schengen country, you will need to go online to a special website and submit a request to travel to Schengen Area. If you are not a person of interest, you should get approved within 96 hours and you can travel to Schengen countries the same way as you do now for the next three years (or until your passport expires if that comes sooner).

EES and ETIAS combined

What will realistically change when both EES and ETIAS are in effect? Find a simple description below.

As of now, traveling to the Schengen Area being from a country that is allowed the 90 days visa-free stay looks something like this:

  1. Book a plane ticket from a non-Schengen country to one of the Schengen countries.
  2. Board a plane, land in that Schengen country.
  3. Get an entry stamp to your passport.
  4. Book a flight to one of non-Schengen countries.
  5. Get an exit stamp, board a plane to that non-Schengen country.
  6. Land in that non-Schengen country.

What will the same travel look like after EES and ETIAS are in place?

  1. Go online, apply for your Authorization to travel to Schengen (ETIAS).
  2. Get the authorization minutes to 96 hours later.
  3. Buy a flight ticket to one of the Schengen countries.
  4. Board a plane to that country and land there.
  5. Scan your passport in that Schengen airport, and the EES will know you arrived and when your 90 days are up.
  6. Before your 90 days are up, book a flight to a non-Schengen country.
  7. Scan your passport so the EES knows you left in time, board a plane to the non-Schengen country.
  8. Land in the non-Schengen country.

When this all will happen?

Honestly, at this point, nobody knows exactly when the systems will be launched. The launching dates have already been moved several times.

As of now (Jan 2025), the official launching date of EES is “2025”. The ETIAS should follow 6 months later.

It is possible the dates will be moved again. It is also possible, and actually pretty likely, that they systems will not work perfectly during the first weeks/months after the launch.

It also remains to be seen if the ETIAS will really follow only 6 months after the launch of EES.

As soon as any more concrete dates are available, we will for sure let you know as we always do 🙂 So stay in touch, either here or on our social media.

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