Starting in 2024, Canadian passport holders will be required to apply online and pay a fee if they plan to stay short term in 30 European countries.
I wonder what’s the reason for the change? The article just mentions vaguely about the EU tightening border security. But is border security from Canada really a concern? Or did we just get swept up in a larger change?
I’m personally of the opinion we should be going the opposite direction. It should be easier to visit, work, and immigrate/emigrate to and from similar countries.
The EU is basically slapping Canadians with a reciprocal policy. Canada has the eTA (electronic travel authorization) which they have to file and pay 7$ to visit, even if they don’t need a visa. This is the same in reverse.
We should stop doing that.
The same is already true the other way around. It’s the AVE.
tl;dr: replaces tourist visas which were previously required for 90+day stays. Costs $10 to apply, and is expected to be processed in less than two weeks.
No, this is new and it’s required for <=90 days. Visas are still required for >90 days.
Ohhh! I misread it. Up to 90 days in any 180 day period. Okay, still not terrible.
Ya, just something to remember before you go!
In the grand scheme of things, pretty small compared to the cost/time of booking a flight and accommodation, but I’m sure some people will probably still forget/miss it.
I’ve found that actual details on travel required documents can be pretty hard to find. I traveled to Asia last year and the country I was visiting also needed a permit and vaccination stuff. Government webpage no details on the main page, airline had nada (and yes, I checked). I didn’t even know about it until I stopped by the airport while dropping somebody else off (same day) and the clerk asked about it. When I googled the exact permit name a government page did come up but I have no fucking clue how you’d even get to that page otherwise if you didn’t know what it was called.
Thankfully I was able to take a picture with my phone, submit my OTHER documentation with it online, and got the permit within a few hours in time for my flight.
Yeah, it’s gonna really suck for some people who forget to do this well ahead of time. They’ll have to cancel vacations or the likes. Most trips, you currently just bring your passport with you and that’s really it. Nothing to apply to ahead of time.
Hopefully it’s something that airlines will make part of purchasing tickets, so that you can’t forget it. But it seems like this means you basically can’t do last minute trips anymore. If you possibly could have a need to travel to the EU on short notice (eg, you have family there), you probably need to just keep this permit valid all the time. It would really suck to not be able to visit a dying family member because the permit could take weeks.
Th permit process is expected to take on order of hours for most people, and are valid for something like 3 years, unlimited entries.
The US has required the same of Europeans for quite some time now (ESTA waiver).
Edit: looks like they anticipate 95% of cases to be decided in minutes and the rest in not more than 4 days.
The part of the post that stood out to me was this quote:
“Please note that this period could be extended by up to 14 days if you are requested to provide additional information or documentation, or up to 30 days if you are invited to an interview,” the EU has warned on the official ETIAS website.
Even if most people can do it in hours (not sure how much most is – 99.9%? 60%?), that still reads to me like it makes it a case where you can’t count on it for last minute trips or if you forget to do it.
It’s like camping!
