theForum

ETIAS - the saga continues


https://forum.unlock.org.uk/Topic35269.aspx

By punter99 - 6 Mar 25 11:35 AM

Just reading Unlocks latest newsletter. Already out date as they say it will come in 2025, but the official website says 2026.

There are a few things of interest on the ETIAS.org website as well.

"It is unlikely that you will be allowed to travel to Europe with a serious criminal record. Anyone who has spent more than 3 years in jail or has been convicted of trafficking or drug offences with over two years of jail time will usually be declined.There are different rules across the member states, so there could be a possibility of applying for a Schengen visa for the specific country you are visiting and the embassy will review your criminal record and make a decision whether to issue a visa.Spent convictions will not usually impact travelling to Europe, unless the offence included over 30 months’ of imprisonment."
"Any of the following serious criminal offences in the last ten years will need to be reviewed and likely to be declined:
  • Terrorism (in the last 20 years)
  • Sexual exploitation of children
  • Trafficking of human beings
  • Trafficking of drugs
  • Murder
  • Rape"

I think this is new information. I dont previously recall them saying that certain offences are "likely" to be declined. There is also more confusion about the dates covered. We have heard periods of 15, 20 and 25 years mentioned previously. Now it seems to be just 10 years. 

There is also a confusion over crimes that occured more than 10 years ago, but which received a sentence of over 3 years. Will they likely be declined or not?
By AB2014 - 11 Mar 25 9:11 AM

punter99 - 7 Mar 25 12:24 PM
Its very confusing, because Unlocks newsletter from Feb this year, links to this page https://unlock.org.uk/advice/travelling-to-the-eu-etias/  which says 10 years.

Whereas another page on Unlock, https://unlock.org.uk/travel-to-the-eu-post-brexit/ says 15 years.

As far as I can see, the official ETIAS site is this one. https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en

and the official site says implementation in late 2026, contradicting Unlocks latest newsletter.
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/revised-timeline-ees-and-etias-2025-03-07_en (dated 7th march 2025)

I emailed Debbie last week about the confusion, so hopefully someone will check the information and update it, at least on the website. One problem with the ten or fifteen years thing is that someone quite high up in the EU found a procedural problem with the Parliament amending the directive/rules, regardless of what was changed. However, I'm guessing it would just need the Commission to amend it for the Parliament to approve it. Bureaucrats, eh? Thankfully, my convictions are already over fifteen years old, so I wouldn't have to disclose for an ETIAS anyway, but thousands of others aren't so lucky. If they decide to disclose.