ETIAS travel permit delay: no UK traveller action needed yet

The short answer

The ETIAS travel permit delay means British visitors will not need the new authorisation for any trip in 2026, and quite possibly not for much of 2027 either. According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin on 7 October 2026, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is “currently not operational”, and the official EU ETIAS portal has removed its previous 2026 launch timeline amid growing discussion of further delays.

The system had been expected to roll out in late 2026. The Bulletin reports that recent EU discussions and travel updates indicate implementation could now be pushed back to spring or the final quarter of 2027. That is a report of discussions, not an announced date, and Reported.News has not seen an official new launch date.

The practical position is simple. The Bulletin says no applications are being collected and travellers do not need to take any action or obtain a waiver for trips in 2026. It also says the EU maintains that it will formally announce the exact start date several months before launch, so there should be notice before anything changes at the border.

How ETIAS works: EU entry requirements for UK travellers

ETIAS is not a visa. The Majorca Daily Bulletin describes it as “more accurately referred to as a visa-waiver”, comparable to the United States’ ESTA. It is a travel authorisation for people who do not need a visa to visit Europe, and who will be checked in advance rather than simply turning up at the border.

Today, the Bulletin says, travellers who visit Europe visa-free can enter EU and Schengen countries at no cost and without any digital security screening before they arrive. Under ETIAS, that changes. The report says the system will check security credentials and charge a fee to people visiting EU member countries for business, tourism, medical or transit purposes. The sources we reviewed do not state the fee, so we have not quoted one.

The Bulletin presents the scheme as part of a wider push by the EU to strengthen border security and to digitally screen and track travellers entering and leaving EU countries. Visitors from visa-free countries have been given that access, it says, because of their good track record on security issues. Under ETIAS they will “undergo additional security checks prior to being permitted to enter the EU”. The Bulletin’s report is specifically about Britons, and Reported.News is relying on it for that point.

ETIAS biometric checks and how the EU systems fit together

Much of the confusion around ETIAS comes from the fact that it sits alongside another new system. The Entry/Exit System (EES) is, in the Bulletin’s words, an automated biometric passport registry that handles physical border entry. ETIAS is separate. One deals with permission to travel before departure; the other records people at the border itself.

The legal basis for linking these systems is Regulation (EU) 2019/817 of 20 May 2019, a primary source for this explainer. It names the EES, the Visa Information System, ETIAS, Eurodac, the Schengen Information System and the European Criminal Records Information System for Third-Country Nationals, and says they should be made interoperable so that they “supplement each other”. To do that it creates a European search portal, a shared biometric matching service, a common identity repository and a multiple-identity detector.

The regulation gives its aims as “improving the effectiveness and efficiency of checks at the external borders” and contributing to the prevention of illegal immigration. It adds that interoperability should help identify people correctly and contribute to combating identity fraud. A companion text, Regulation (EU) 2019/818, covers police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration. The extracts we reviewed do not set an ETIAS launch date, and the biometric matching they describe is a back-end service rather than a description of what a traveller will do at a particular airport.

When will ETIAS launch for British visitors?

No firm date exists. What is known is the shift in expectations. The system was expected in late 2026, and the official portal has since dropped that timeline. The Bulletin says discussions now point to spring or the final quarter of 2027. On those figures, the gap between the original expectation and the later of the two new possibilities is roughly a year, though nothing has been confirmed.

The sequence from here, according to the Bulletin, is as follows. First, the EU announces a start date several months in advance. Second, it runs a public information campaign, which the Bulletin says the EU has committed to, to alert travellers months before the system goes live. Until then, there is nothing to apply for.

For readers planning trips, the steps are short. Keep booking and travelling as normal for 2026. Do not pay any website that offers early registration, because the Bulletin says such sites are scams. When the EU announces a date, check the official EU ETIAS portal for the latest position before relying on any other source, including news reports like this one.

Your questions answered

Is ETIAS being delayed?

It appears so, but not formally. The Majorca Daily Bulletin reports that the official EU portal has removed its earlier 2026 launch timeline and that discussions point to spring or the final quarter of 2027. It describes the new timing as something that “could now be” pushed back, and the EU has not, in the material we reviewed, announced a replacement date. Treat 2027 as a possible window rather than a promise.

What are the biometric checks used for at airports?

The sources describe the purpose in general terms rather than airport by airport. The Bulletin says the EES is an automated biometric passport registry handling physical border entry. Regulation (EU) 2019/817 provides for a shared biometric matching service so that data held in different EU systems can be compared, with the stated aims of correct identification and combating identity fraud. ETIAS itself is a pre-arrival check of security credentials. We have not found a source that sets out exactly which biometric details ETIAS will collect, so we are not stating any.

What is the EES system at Schiphol?

The sources we used do not mention Schiphol Airport, so we cannot say how the system is operated there. What they do establish is what the EES is: according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, an automated biometric passport registry that handles physical border entry, which came into force earlier this year. The Bulletin says its introduction has been chaotic and that argument over its success continues. Travellers heading to a specific airport should check that airport’s own guidance.

Do I need ETIAS for a trip this year?

No. The Bulletin says travellers do not need to take any action or obtain a waiver for trips in 2026, and that because the system is offline you cannot apply yet. Any website offering an ETIAS application now is not offering an official one.