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Guide 15 · ETIAS

How much does ETIAS cost?

Published 29 July 2026 · 5 min read

Short answer: EUR 20 per application, with two age groups exempt from paying entirely. That single payment covers you for up to three years of unlimited short trips, which works out to very little per journey. Here is exactly what you pay, what you get for it, and the one mistake that causes travellers to pay far more than they need to.

The fee is EUR 20

The European Commission confirmed the ETIAS application fee at EUR 20. This was raised from the EUR 7 originally written into the legislation, with the Commission citing the operational costs of the system and inflation since the original figure was set.

You pay it once, per application, per traveller. There is no separate processing charge, no "expedited" tier, and no annual renewal on top.

Who pays nothing

Two groups are exempt from the fee but still need an ETIAS:

This distinction matters and it trips people up. Being fee-exempt is not the same as being ETIAS-exempt. A 12-year-old and an 80-year-old both still need their own valid ETIAS authorisation tied to their own passport. They simply do not pay the EUR 20 for it.

For a family, that arithmetic is friendlier than it first looks. Two parents aged 40 travelling with three children under 18 pay EUR 40 in total, not EUR 100.

What EUR 20 actually buys you

An approved ETIAS is valid for up to three years, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. Within that period it allows multiple entries, so you are not paying per trip.

That changes how the cost should feel. If you visit Europe twice a year for three years, one EUR 20 application covers all six trips. That is a little over three euros per trip. Even a single visit puts ETIAS well below the cost of most airport transfers.

The catch on validity is the passport link. If your passport expires eighteen months from now, your ETIAS expires with it, regardless of the three-year ceiling. Renew the passport and you need a fresh ETIAS tied to the new document, at full price again. If your passport is close to expiry and you are not in a rush, renewing it before applying for ETIAS gets you more value from the same EUR 20.

The mistake that costs people more

Around every government travel-authorisation scheme, a market of copycat websites appears. They present an official-looking form, collect your details, submit the same application you could have submitted yourself, and charge a substantial markup for the favour. The US ESTA system has had this problem for years, and ETIAS will be no different.

The genuine ETIAS fee is EUR 20. Applications go through the official EU portal at travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en. If a site is quoting you EUR 60, EUR 80, or "EUR 20 plus a service fee", you are on a reseller, not the EU.

These sites are not usually illegal, which is precisely why they persist. They are simply charging you for something that takes a few minutes to do yourself.

When you will start paying it

ETIAS starts operations in the last quarter of 2026. The EU will announce the exact date several months in advance. There is no way to pay early or pre-register: until the system is live, nobody is collecting ETIAS fees, and any site claiming otherwise is not legitimate.

After launch there is a transitional period, during which travellers arriving without an ETIAS will not be refused entry solely for lacking one, provided they meet the other entry conditions. The authorisation becomes fully mandatory once that buffer ends.

What the fee does not buy

Worth stating plainly, because it is the most common misunderstanding: paying for ETIAS does not give you extra days in Europe.

With a valid ETIAS you may still only stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area, exactly as before. ETIAS authorises you to travel to the border and request entry. The 90/180 rolling window governs how long you may remain once you are through it. They are two separate systems, and EUR 20 buys you the first one only.

If you want to see where your own 90 days actually run out, the visual calculator on this site does the counting for you, and the ETIAS checker confirms in one click whether your passport needs an ETIAS at all.

Quick recap

  1. EUR 20 per application, paid once.
  2. Free for under-18s and over-70s, who still need an ETIAS.
  3. Valid up to three years, or until your passport expires, with multiple entries.
  4. Official portal only. Anything meaningfully above EUR 20 is a reseller.
  5. It buys authorisation, not time. The 90/180 limit is unchanged.

Important caveats