CBI passport holders who are not EU citizens, visiting the Schengen area from 2021, will be subjected to new electronic travel authorization requirement known as ‘ETIAS’
EU leaders in September 2016 agreed to set up a European travel information and authorisation system (ETIAS) to enhance Europe’s security. This system will carry advance checks on visa-exempt travellers and deny their entry if necessary. It will be similar to existing systems in place in the US, Canada and Australia, among others.
ETIAS will be operational by 2021 three years from now.
Non-EU citizens from visa waiver countries, need a valid travel authorization to visit EU schengen area (air, land and sea) . Under the EU visa waiver , it is permitted stay 90 days in any 180-day period within the Schengen area. The 180-day reference period is not fixed. It is a moving window, based on the approach of looking backwards at each day of the stay (be it at the moment of entry or at the day of an actual check, such as inland police control or border check upon departure)
The countries that run Citizenship by investment (CBI) programs have visa waiver agreements with the EU. CBI passport holders also need register for ESTA before the trip.
- St Kitts and Nevis
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Grenada
- Saint Lucia
- Dominica
- Vanuatu
- Moldova
- Montenegro
Malta and Cyprus citizens are not subjected to ETIAS authorization.
ETIAS will not apply to
- EU/EEA citizens
- Dual EU citizens with EU passports
- Residence permit or permanent resident holders of schengen member states.
Some 60 countries will be subjected to ETIAS at the moment and in future more countries will be added.
Here are important points to remember:
- ETIAS will be operational by 2021 three years from now. It will then be managed by the European border and coast guard agency in close cooperation with member states and Europol.
- Nationals of visa waiver countries will continue to travel the EU without a visa but will simply be required to obtain a travel authorisation via ETIAS  prior to their travel. ETIAS will be a simple, fast and visitor-friendly system, which will, in more than 95% of cases, result in a positive answer within a few minutes.
- The ETIAS authorisation is not a visa. Once operational, it will carry out pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area.
- The ETIAS legislation will apply to Member States that are part of the Schengen area, including those which do not yet fully apply the Schengen acquis, i.e. Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania.
- ETIAS system will charge a fee of 7 euros
- If ESTA travel authorisation is refused, the applicant retains the right to appeal. Appeals can be launched in the Member State that has taken the decision on the application and in accordance with the national law of that Member State.
- The validity of the travel authorisation will be three years (or until the expiry date of the travel document). An ETIAS authorisation will be valid for an unlimited number of entries.
The proposed ESTA regulations will help:
- better detect security threats
- combat identity fraud
- improve checks at external borders
- prevent and combat illegal migration
ETIAS will be developed by eu-LISA. This is the EU agency that manages large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice.
The upgraded Schengen information system is expected to be fully implemented by 2021, with some provisions being implemented immediately.
Read more about working of  ETIAS here
Additional information
