The Journal
What ETIAS is
ETIAS is a travel authorisation for people who do not need a visa for the Schengen area. It is applied for online, it takes minutes, and it is not a visa. From October 2026, visa-exempt travellers will need one before short trips to the Schengen area.
Who needs it
British passport holders are the obvious group on this island. A British passport lets you travel to the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, and from October 2026 that visa-free travel comes with an ETIAS authorisation attached. The same applies to other visa-exempt nationalities.
Who does not need it
If your nationality requires a Schengen visa, ETIAS does not apply to you. Your visa is, and remains, the requirement. Nothing about your application, your documents or your appointment changes in October. The two systems do not mix: you either need a visa or you need an ETIAS, never both.
Why we are flagging it
Because most of the trips we prepare are not solo trips. A household where one partner holds a British passport and the other applies on, say, a Pakistani or Nigerian passport is planning one holiday with two different entry requirements. From October, the British passport in that household needs an ETIAS while the other passport needs the same Schengen visa as before. Knowing which of you needs what, before anyone books flights, is the whole game.
If the visa half of that equation is yours, start with which country your application belongs to, or what our advisory covers.