What Travelers Need to Know About the ETIAS Visa Waiver Program
The ETIAS visa waiver for Europe is not a visa. Instead, it is for citizens from countries like CA, who do not need a visa to enter Europe. The program is designed to prevent entry by people who may be affiliated with terrorist or other extremist organizations, or who may have been exposed to a virulent communicative disease either at home or as part of other travels.
The ETIAS visa waiver is designed to be affordable for all travelers. In addition, an ETIAS for citizens from Canada is good for 3 years or until the traveler’s current passport expires, whichever comes first. It does require that travelers enter Europe through the same airport every time, or they will need new ETIAS approval if they wish to enter a different way.
The ETIAS visa waiver for Europe allows stays for up to 90 days at a time and allows travelers to enter for the purposes of either business or tourism. Other types of travel will require other types of permission. The 90 days should be plenty of time for most people to do what they need to do in the Schengen Zone and fly home.
Once in Europe, travelers will not need additional permission to enter each country. Instead, they can take advantage of the free borders in this part of Europe to move about the world as they wish.
How to Obtain an ETIAS for Citizens from Canada
The online application can be found here and it’s easy to fill out. Travelers will need:
- Their current passport from CA with at least 6 months of validity left.
- A credit card.
- An email address that they check regularly.
They should be prepared to enter several different types of information about themselves when they apply for the ETIAS for citizens from Canada. Necessary info includes:
- Personal information, which should match exactly what is on the passport from Canada
- Information about previous travels, particularly to places where there was unrest or an outbreak of disease
- Security information, including whether they are members of certain groups or if they have ever been convicted of a crime.
Once they pay for the ETIAS visa waiver application and submit it, they can expect to hear back by email within 2 weeks, though most travelers hear back much sooner than that. Once they get the email that their ETIAS visa waiver for Europe has been approved, they can print it off and continue to make travel plans. Before long, they will be enjoying everything Europe has to offer!
