Travel Entry Requirement Checker
Pick your passport and your destination. Get a plain-English summary of the visa, authorisation and paperwork you need to get in.
Results are guidance only. Always confirm with official government sources before you fly.
This is a planning tool, not an official source. Entry rules change fast. Always double-check with the destination government and your airline before booking or flying.
Know before you book
Entry rules are the bit everyone forgets until it's too late. Visas, authorisations, passport validity, the lot. This pulls the common requirements into one quick summary so you can sort the paperwork before you've spent a penny on flights.
Check your entry requirements
Pick the passport you'll travel on, then search any of the 133 destinations. Search works across every region at once.
Rules last reviewed September 2026. Always confirm with the official links on each card.
EES, ETIAS and the UK ETA
Three separate schemes, three different acronyms, and a lot of websites happy to charge you for the wrong one. Here is where each actually stands as of September 2026.
EES
The EU's Entry/Exit System. Fully operational at every Schengen external border since 10 April 2026, after a phased rollout that started in October 2025. It replaces the passport stamp.
ETIAS
The EU's travel authorisation for visa-free visitors. Still not operational, no confirmed start date, and you cannot apply. Anyone selling you one right now is selling you nothing.
UK ETA
Britain's own scheme, nothing to do with the EU. Mandatory to board since 25 February 2026 for visa-free visitors, including US, EU, Canadian and Australian passport holders.
The short version: if you are heading into the Schengen Area right now, there is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay. You will have your fingerprints and photo taken at the border instead of getting a stamp, and that is the whole change. If you are heading to the UK on a non-British, non-Irish passport, you almost certainly do need an ETA and you need it before you get to the airport.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Scheme | Where | Status | Cost | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EES Entry/Exit System |
29 European countries using Schengen external borders | Fully operational since 10 April 2026 | Free | Nothing in advance. On your first crossing your fingerprints and facial image are recorded at the border. Allow extra time, because queues have been long through 2026. |
| ETIAS Travel authorisation |
30 European countries | Not operational. No confirmed launch date, and applications are not open | €20 once it launches | Nothing. There is genuinely nothing to do until the EU announces a date, which it has said it will do several months in advance. |
| UK ETA Electronic Travel Authorisation |
United Kingdom | Live. Carriers have had to check for one since 25 February 2026 | £20 / €23 / $27 | Apply online or in the UK ETA app before you travel. Valid two years or until your passport expires, multiple trips, up to six months per visit. |
Watch out: ETIAS scam sites are everywhere and they rank well. IATA has issued warnings about fake ETIAS websites taking payments for a scheme that does not yet exist. There is exactly one official site, travel-europe.europa.eu, and while ETIAS is not live it cannot take applications at all. If a site offers to sell you an ETIAS today, it is taking your money for nothing.
The passport rules that catch people out
Most refused boardings have nothing to do with visas. They are passport validity, and the two rules below trip up more travellers than everything else on this page combined.
For the Schengen Area, a British or other non-EU passport generally needs to have been issued within the last 10 years on the day you enter, and to be valid for at least three months after the day you intend to leave. The ten-year rule catches people who renewed early and had extra months carried over from their old passport, because those extra months do not count towards the issue date. Check the issue date on the photo page, not just the expiry.
Plenty of other countries want six months of validity beyond your arrival or departure date, and some want blank pages too. The card for your destination links straight to the official advice, so check it rather than guessing. If your passport expires within the next year and you have a trip booked, renew now rather than later.
Good to know: British and Irish citizens do not need a UK ETA and cannot apply for one. If you hold dual nationality, travel to the UK on your British or Irish passport. Turning up on the other one without an ETA is a boarding refusal, and it has caught a lot of dual nationals out since enforcement started.
Sources checked
- Travel to Europe, official ETIAS page, the European Union's only official ETIAS site, for status, the €20 fee and the fact that applications are not open.
- ABTA, upcoming changes for travel to Europe, for EES becoming fully operational on 10 April 2026 and ETIAS having no confirmed date.
- Home Office, Electronic Travel Authorisation factsheet, for the £20 UK ETA fee, the two-year validity and the six-month visit limit.
- IATA, new entry requirements for travel into the EU, for the warning about unofficial and fake ETIAS websites.
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice, per-country entry and passport validity requirements.
Prices correct as of September 2026. Entry schemes change quickly, so check the official links before you book.
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The things worth understanding before you trust any checklist, including this one.
Is this checker official?
Which passports does it cover?
How current is the information?
Why do results change?
Do I need an ETIAS right now?
Do I need a UK ETA?
What if I'm a dual national?
Do airlines enforce different rules?
How long does my passport need to be valid?
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