ETIAS is not live yet, but 150 fake sites already sell it
Key takeaways
- ETIAS is delayed. No one can apply for it yet.
- More than 150 websites offer ETIAS anyway, ABTA warns.
- The real fee will be 20 euros. Fake sites charge up to 178 euros.
Do not apply for ETIAS. You cannot apply for it yet. The system is not live.
But more than 150 websites claim to sell it. They are taking money for a waiver that does not exist.
That warning comes from ABTA, the UK travel association. ABTA spoke out on October 13, 2026. Its message is blunt. You can't, and shouldn't, apply for an ETIAS now.
What happened
ETIAS is the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. It is a pre-travel waiver for trips to the Schengen zone. It will apply to travellers from visa-exempt countries.
That list includes the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada. It will cover about 30 European nations.
ETIAS was due to start this year. It was set to follow the EU's Entry/Exit System, known as EES. Both systems have been delayed again and again.
ETIAS is now on hold. ABTA says no launch date has been set.
The EU dropped the old target date in July 2026. The target was the last quarter of 2026. The official ETIAS page now says the system is not in operation. It says no applications are being collected. A new date has not been confirmed.
Some reports point to 2027. That is not official.
Luke Petherbridge is ABTA's director of public affairs. He said ETIAS was due to come into force this year. He said it is now back on hold.
ABTA thinks ETIAS should not start until EES works well. EES is the border system that logs entries and exits.
ABTA research shows awareness is rising. In 2024, 41 percent of travellers knew about the coming border rules. Now 56 percent know.
The price has also risen. It was 7 euros. It is now 20 euros, about 17 pounds.
Travellers under 18 and over 70 will not pay.
Frontex is the EU border agency. It warned about scam sites long before ETIAS was due. Some sites copy the look of the official page.
Some use names that sound official. Some give wrong facts about who needs ETIAS. The risk runs from lost money to stolen identity data.
The scam sites
More than 150 websites offer ETIAS services, per European authorities. Frontex has confirmed more than 100 unofficial sites posing as ETIAS portals. These sites charge travellers from 50 to 178 euros.
They sell an application to a system that has never taken one real application.
The fake sites use pressure tricks. Some show countdown timers. Some claim that spaces are limited.
Some say early sign-up gets a faster ETIAS. All of that is made up. ETIAS has no pre-registration.
There are no limited spaces. There is no early lane.
Some scam sites buy paid ads on search engines. They can appear above the official EU page. A traveller who searches "apply ETIAS" may see a fake site first.
That is why the domain check matters.
The only official site will end in . europa. eu.
The official page is travel-europe. europa. eu/etias.
Any site that does not end in . europa. eu is not official.
That one check stops most scams.
The fee check helps too. The real fee will be 20 euros. Any site that charges more is not the official system.
Any site that charges a fee for pre-registration is not legit. There is no fast track. There is no priority lane.
There is no guaranteed approval.
Why it matters
The scam risk is live today. Travellers who pay a fake site lose money. They also hand over passport facts, birth dates, and card details.
That data can feed identity theft. A fake approval email is worthless. It buys no entry to Europe.
The delay also creates confusion. Travellers hear about ETIAS and EES and mix them up. The two systems are not the same.
EES is live. It logs border crossings with biometrics. ETIAS is not live.
It will act before travel, like the US ESTA. Today, you need a passport only. No ETIAS, no pre-registration.
EES has its own problems. Border checks can be paused at busy points when queues grow. ABTA says some travellers get an entry record but no exit record.
That can make them look like overstayers on the next trip. ABTA raised this at its Travel Convention on October 13.
Petherbridge said travellers can ask the national border authority to fix the record. He said guards are fixing such records at the next crossing. That claim comes from ABTA.
The Commission has not confirmed it.
Airports and airlines say waits have not eased. ACI EUROPE and Airlines for Europe said waits still pass two hours. At peak times, they reach five hours in the worst cases.
ABTA's own survey is milder. Of those who went through EES, half cleared in under 30 minutes. And 87 percent cleared in under an hour.
Both views can be true at different borders.
What happens next
Nothing changes for your next trip. You do not need ETIAS. Do not pay any site that claims to sell it.
Use your passport as normal. Keep your entry and exit stamps. They prove your travel dates.
When ETIAS does launch, use the official site only. The address is travel-europe. europa.
eu/etias. Pay 20 euros. No more.
Travellers under 18 and over 70 pay nothing. The waiver will last three years, or until your passport ends.
ABTA wants EES to work well first. It says ETIAS should wait until then. The EU has not set a date.
It says it will announce a start date months ahead. Until that day comes, avoid any site that takes your money for ETIAS.
Before any trip, check the basics. Make sure your passport photos meet the strict rules. Know that some countries stamp passports and others do not.
And pack right with the 3-1-1 rule for liquids on planes.
The rule for now is simple. If a site asks you to apply and pay for ETIAS today, close it. The system is not open.
Your money and your passport facts are safer in your pocket.
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