ETIAS Fee: How Much Does It Cost?

The €20 Fee — What It Covers

The ETIAS application fee was set at €20 per application under an amendment to the original regulation, reflecting increased system costs and GDPR compliance requirements. The fee was originally planned at €7 but was revised upward.

The fee covers:

• Processing of your application through all security and migration databases
• Three years of valid authorisation (or until your passport expires)
• Unlimited entries into the Schengen Area during the validity period
• Coverage across all 30 participating European countries under a single fee

The fee is paid at the time of application. If your application is rejected, the fee is generally non-refundable (the EU has confirmed this in implementation documentation).

Fee Exemptions

Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 specifies the following exemption categories:

Category	Fee Status	Notes
Travellers aged 18–69	€20	Standard application fee
Children under 18	€0 — Exempt	Authorisation still required
Travellers aged 70 and over	€0 — Exempt	Authorisation still required
Family members of EU/EEA citizens	Fee may vary	Special rules apply — check official guidance

Payment methods accepted

The ETIAS fee will be payable online at the time of application through the official EU portal at travel-europe.europa.eu/etias. Payment is collected during the application process — you cannot submit an application without completing payment (unless you are fee-exempt).

Based on the EU's implementation documentation and the payment infrastructure used by comparable systems (notably the EES and existing Schengen visa application centres), the following payment methods are expected to be accepted:

• Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards — the primary expected payment methods
• American Express — likely accepted, though not confirmed in published documentation
• Bank-issued debit cards with Visa or Mastercard branding

Prepaid travel cards (such as Revolut, Wise, or Monzo cards) that carry a Visa or Mastercard network logo should also work, though this has not been explicitly confirmed by eu-LISA. If you plan to use a prepaid card, ensure it is enabled for online international payments before starting your application.

The following are not expected to be accepted:

• Cash, bank transfer, or cheque — the system is entirely online
• PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay — no indication these will be supported at launch
• Cryptocurrency of any kind

Applications cannot be submitted in person. There will be no physical offices, kiosks, or consular windows for ETIAS. If any website or service offers to "pay on your behalf" for a handling fee, that is an unofficial intermediary — not the EU system.

What happens if you pay and are rejected

This is one of the most common questions about ETIAS fees, and the answer is straightforward: the €20 fee is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome of your application.

The fee covers the cost of processing your application — the automated screening against security databases, the review by national authorities if flagged, and the administrative infrastructure that supports the system. Whether the outcome is "authorised", "refused", or "annulled", the processing has already taken place, and the cost has been incurred by the system.

This is consistent with how comparable systems operate worldwide:

• The US ESTA ($21) is non-refundable if denied
• The Canada eTA (C$7) is non-refundable if denied
• The UK ETA (£10) is non-refundable if denied
• Schengen visa application fees (€80–€90) are non-refundable if the visa is refused

If your ETIAS application is refused, you have the right to appeal the decision. The appeal process is handled by the national authority of the member state responsible for the refusal. However, filing an appeal does not entitle you to a refund of the original fee, and the appeal itself may involve additional administrative costs depending on the member state's procedures.

How ETIAS compares to Schengen visa costs

ETIAS is not a visa — it is a pre-travel authorisation for people who already have visa-free access to Europe. But it is useful to understand how the €20 ETIAS fee compares to the cost of a Schengen visa, since some travellers confuse the two systems.

System	Fee	Validity	Processing	Refundable?
ETIAS	€20	3 years	Minutes to 96 hours	No
Schengen visa (adult)	€90	Usually 90 days–1 year	15 calendar days typical	No
Schengen visa (child 6–11)	€45	Usually 90 days–1 year	15 calendar days typical	No
US ESTA	$21 (~€19)	2 years	Seconds to 72 hours	No
Canada eTA	C$7 (~€5)	5 years	Minutes	No
UK ETA	£10 (~€12)	2 years	3 working days	No

The difference in cost and complexity is significant. A Schengen short-stay visa costs 4.5 times more than ETIAS, typically requires an in-person appointment at a consulate or visa application centre, supporting documents (hotel bookings, bank statements, travel insurance, employer letters), and a processing time measured in weeks. ETIAS, by contrast, is a 10-minute online form with no supporting documents and near-instant processing for most applicants.

For travellers who currently enter Europe visa-free, ETIAS adds a modest administrative step and a small fee. It does not change the fundamental nature of their travel — they remain visa-exempt. The €20 is a processing charge, not a visa fee.

Currency conversion: what €20 actually costs you

The ETIAS fee is denominated in euros. Your bank or card provider will convert the charge at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment, typically with a small foreign transaction fee (often 1–3% depending on your card issuer). Below are approximate equivalent costs in major currencies, based on early 2026 exchange rates:

Currency	Approximate cost	Notes
🇺🇸 US Dollar (USD)	$21–$22	Broadly similar to the ESTA fee
🇬🇧 British Pound (GBP)	£17–£18	About £7–8 more than the UK's own ETA
🇦🇺 Australian Dollar (AUD)	A$33–$35	Reflects the weaker AUD/EUR rate
🇨🇦 Canadian Dollar (CAD)	C$30–$32	About 4× the cost of Canada's own eTA
🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (JPY)	¥3,200–¥3,400	At approximately ¥160–170 per euro

These figures are indicative and will fluctuate. The actual amount charged to your card will depend on the exchange rate applied by your bank on the day of payment, plus any foreign transaction surcharge. Some cards — particularly travel-focused fintech cards like Wise, Revolut, or Monzo — offer interbank exchange rates with minimal or no markup, which can save a small amount on the conversion.

Per-trip cost perspective

Because ETIAS is valid for three years and covers unlimited entries, the effective per-trip cost depends on how often you visit Europe. For a frequent business traveller making four trips per year, the €20 works out to roughly €1.67 per trip over the authorisation's lifetime. Even for a once-in-three-years holidaymaker, the full €20 covers the entire trip across all 30 participating countries — there is no per-country charge and no per-entry charge.

Compared to other travel costs — flights, accommodation, travel insurance — the ETIAS fee is negligible. The more relevant consideration for most travellers is not the cost but the administrative step: remembering to apply before departure, and ensuring the authorisation is linked to the correct passport.

Beware of unofficial fee-charging sites

Numerous unofficial websites already charge fees to "apply" for ETIAS — despite the fact that the official ETIAS system does not yet exist. These sites typically charge €50–€90 and provide worthless documentation. Any payment made to an unofficial ETIAS site is money wasted.

The fee disparity is a useful red flag: if a site is charging significantly more than €20, or charging any amount before the official portal has opened, it is not legitimate. The EU has not authorised any third-party agents, travel agencies, or intermediary websites to collect ETIAS fees on its behalf.

The only legitimate place to pay the ETIAS fee will be at travel-europe.europa.eu/etias when the portal opens in 2026. Read our full scam warning →