Canadians Will Have To Pay A Fee To Visit Europe Starting This Year
Over 60 countries will be required to pay the fee.
European Union flying outside of Brussels building.
Canadians hoping to frolic through the streets of Paris or eat their body weight in pasta in Italy will need to dish out an additional fee that officially comes into effect this year.
The European Union will be introducing a new visa waiver system, known as the European Travel Information Authorization System (ETIAS) that will require visitors from the 63 countries that are not part of the European Union but can still enter without a visa to pay a 7 euro fee, which is roughly CA$10.
What is ETIAS?
ETIAS are being put to use in order to "reduce procedures and wait times, as well as address security concerns," the EU says on the ETIAS website.
Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom are a few of the countries that will be required to pay the ETIAS authorization fee.
Although MTL Blog originally reported that the ETIAS would be fully operational as of May, the website now says that the travel authorization system will be in full effect come November 1, 2023.
Travellers will be required to fill out a form and pay the fee, which is estimated to take only a few minutes. The form will ask questions regarding criminal records, conflict zones and instructions on how to exit the EU.
If approved, your ETIAS can be valid anywhere from three years to whenever your passport expires.
Who will need to pay the ETIAS visitors' fee?
Here's a full list of countries that will need to fill out the form and pay the new EU visitor fee:
- Albania
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominica
- El Salvador
- Georgia
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Israel
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Macao
- Malaysia
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- North Macedonia
- Palau
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent
- Samoa
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Timor Leste
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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