Which Countries Require ETIAS?

The UK left the EU in 2020 and operates its own Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which became mandatory for most visitors in January 2026. The UK ETA costs £10 and is valid for 2 years (multiple trips). If your itinerary combines UK and European visits, you need both a UK ETA and ETIAS — they are separate applications at separate cost. There is no combined application. The UK ETA is applied for at gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta.

Ireland is a full EU member but chose to remain outside the Schengen Area, maintaining the Common Travel Area with the UK instead. As a result, Ireland is not part of ETIAS. Visa-exempt visitors from countries like the US, Canada, and Australia currently visit Ireland without any pre-travel authorisation. Ireland does not currently have an equivalent to ETIAS or the UK ETA planned for introduction in the near term, though this could change. Always check the latest Irish immigration requirements before travel.

These four microstates are entirely surrounded by or accessed through Schengen territory (Monaco and San Marino border Italy and France; Andorra borders France and Spain; Vatican City is within Rome, Italy). They are not formal ETIAS members — they do not control their own Schengen borders — but visiting them requires entering the surrounding Schengen country first, so ETIAS is effectively required to reach them. No additional authorisation specific to these microstates is needed for short visits from visa-exempt travellers.

Cyprus joined the Schengen Area in 2024 but the implementation of full Schengen border rules is phased. Cyprus is included in the ETIAS country list. Travellers to Cyprus from Q4 2026 will require ETIAS. Note that the northern part of Cyprus (administered by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey) has a separate and complex border situation that ETIAS does not govern.

Several EU member states have overseas territories that are not part of the Schengen Area. These include France's overseas departments (French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte), Spain's Canary Islands and Ceuta/Melilla, and Portugal's Madeira and Azores. The situation varies by territory:

• Canary Islands (Spain) — are part of the EU and Schengen. ETIAS applies to arrivals there.
• Madeira and Azores (Portugal) — are part of the EU and Schengen. ETIAS applies.
• French overseas departments (Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Mayotte) — are EU territory but outside the Schengen Area. ETIAS does not apply; standard passport and visa rules for France's non-Schengen territories apply instead.
• Ceuta and Melilla (Spain, in North Africa) — these Spanish enclaves have special border regimes and are generally excluded from Schengen free movement rules.

No. One ETIAS authorisation covers all 30 participating countries for the duration of its validity (3 years or until passport expiry). Whether you visit one country or fifteen in a single trip, a single ETIAS is sufficient. The 90-day stay limit applies to the total number of days spent in all ETIAS countries combined, not per country.

Potentially. As the EU expands and more candidate countries — currently including Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina — progress toward EU membership, they may eventually join both the Schengen Area and ETIAS. Existing candidate countries in the Western Balkans may be granted Schengen membership before full EU membership, as was the case for Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland. The ETIAS country list will be updated as the Schengen Area evolves.