Who will need ETIAS?

The rule in one sentence

You will need ETIAS if all of these apply: you are a national of a visa-exempt country or territory, you do not hold the nationality of an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you have no residence permit or long-stay visa from one of the 30 countries concerned, and you are going for a short stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

The list of visa-exempt nationalities is not set by ETIAS. It comes from Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, the EU’s list of countries whose nationals do or do not need a visa. ETIAS simply adds a pre-travel check for the people on that list.

Passport conditions: read this if you are from the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan

For some nationalities, the visa exemption, and therefore ETIAS, applies only to a specific passport. With any other passport from the same country, you still need a visa.

• Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Ukraine: biometric passports only.
• Serbia: biometric passports only, excluding those issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (Koordinaciona uprava).
• Hong Kong and Macao: Special Administrative Region passports only.
• Taiwan: passports that include an identity card number only.

The full list

Nationals of the following overseas territories, which the EU lists separately, are also concerned:

• British territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands.
• US territories: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, US Outlying Islands.
• Australian territories: Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard & McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island.
• New Zealand realm: Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau.

Who does not need ETIAS

• Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, including dual nationals who travel on their European passport or identity card.
• Nationals of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, and Irish citizens: they are outside the scope of ETIAS.
• Holders of a residence permit or residence card issued by one of the 30 countries, including UK nationals covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement who live in an EU country.
• Holders of a valid visa, including a long-stay (national) visa issued by one of these countries.
• Nationals of visa-required countries. They keep applying for a Schengen visa. ETIAS does not open visa-free travel to them.

Some other categories are also exempt, such as holders of diplomatic passports in certain cases, crew members on duty, and holders of a local border traffic permit. Specific rules apply to family members of EU citizens: see special cases.

What about children?

Children need their own ETIAS, whatever their age. There is no family authorisation. A parent or legal guardian applies on their behalf, and applicants under 18 pay nothing.

Is the list final?

No list is final. The EU can add a country to the visa-exempt list (Kosovo was added in January 2024) or suspend an exemption. This page is checked against the EU’s list at each review; the date of the last check is shown at the top. For a trip, the official list on the EU website is the reference.