Most of the Americans are misguided and confused about, whether they need a visa to enter European countries or not. This confusion started when the popular news outlets such as CNN and Esquire published the wrong news about ETIAS in March. According to them, Americans need Visa to enter European countries by 2021.
Generally, an American with a valid passport can stay in Europe’s Schengen Zone country for up to 90 days without a visa. Schengen Zone’s countries are dozens of small countries such as France, Germany, and Spain. Since the past few years, border infiltration and illegal activities by foreigners are increasing consistently in European countries. Hence to strengthen the border lines, the EU has decided to impose ETIAS by 2021 on Americans and some other countries.
Earlier, the European Union had decided to implement ETIAS in 2018, but due to lack of awareness in people about it, ETIAS is scheduled to be operational by 2021.
European Commission told that ETIAS authorization is not a visa, but is a prescreening of visa exempted travelers of America to Europe. The travelers have to apply for ETIAS before their journey. ETIAS is simple and visitor-friendly and it does not need biometric records of visitors. Hence there is no chance of privacy breach.
The visitors need to fill a form and make a payment of €7 to apply for ETIAS. They need not look for a travel agent to register with ETIAS. All a person has to do is apply for ETIAS online by himself following simple steps. ETIAS is valid for three years, which means an American can enter any number of times in European countries in three years, maximum up to 90 days if he follows the staying rules.
