THE rollout of a new visa system for Brits entering Europe is set to be delayed AGAIN.
First announced in 2016, the new ETIAS will be required by all UK travellers visiting countries in the EU.
Similar to the ESTA required to visit America, it will be a ‘visa-waiver’ that lasts three years, or until the passport expires.
However, the introduction of the scheme has faced years of delays – and is likely to be be delayed even further.
This is due to the chaos of the EES system that launched in April, requiring lengthy biometric checks from all non-EU visitors.
Not only has this led to queues as long as five hours, but hundreds of passengers have even missed their flights.
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And this is before the busy peak period, with fears of a “complete collapse of the system” during the summer holidays, according to the head of Europe’s airport trade body.
In response, the launch of ETIAS is now expected to be pushed back to 2027.
According to the FT, EU-Lisa – in charge of the ETIAS rollout – has expressed concerns over it being ready to go this year.
One person said they needed to “clean up EES” before they thought of launching it.
Initially thought to launch back in June, a confirmed launch date is expected to be discussed again in September.
When it does start, all travellers aged 18-70 will have to pay €20 (£18) for the ETIAS.
Anyone outside of this age bracket still need to apply, but will get it free of charge.
Applications will only take a couple of minutes to complete, but it may take up to 30 days to be approved.