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ETIAS: EU postpones launch of €7 visa waiver for tourists

The EU has postponed the start date of its €7 ETIAS visa waiver for tourists - due to come into effect later this year - until 2024.

Published: 28 February 2023 09:08 CET

ETIAS: EU postpones launch of €7 visa waiver for tourists

Photo by ERIC PIERMONT / AFP

The ETIAS visa waiver system requires that all tourists and visitors from non-EU countries register online in advance for the €7 travel authorisation, which lasts for three years.

It was due to come into effect in November but, as reported in British newspaper The Independent, the start date has now been changed by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs at the European Commission in Brussels.

Prospective visitors to the EU from non-EU countries such as the UK, USA and Canada are now told: “It is expected that the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) will be operational in 2024.”

This comes after the EU’s EES system – which will bring in stricter biometric border checks for travellers – was postponed from May 2023 until “the end of the year”.

You can read a full explanation of how EES and ETIAS work HERE.

Both systems were originally due to be introduced in 2021, but were postponed because of the pandemic. They were then scheduled to come into effect in May (for EES) and November (for ETIAS) 2023.

However, there has been pushback from member states who say they are not ready, while major fears have been raised about the effect of enhanced EES checks on the UK-France border, which has already seen long queues at peak times since Brexit.

Bosses at Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and Eurostar have all raised concerns about long delays due to the extra time needed to make the enhanced checks at the border.

John Keefe, chief corporate and public affairs officer for Eurotunnel, told The Independent: “As a concept, EES/ETIAS is a step closer to the smart, digital border that we would all like to see operating in the future.

“But it is important that when it is introduced it is fully functional, has been thoroughly tested and that the introduction is progressive to allow both operators and travellers to familiarise themselves with the new requirements.”

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Ask the expert: What are the French immigration laws for 'pacsé' couples?

In a 2018 judgement, the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative Court, put an end to a long-running controversy as to whether or not an individual, signatory of a civil partnership under French law (Pacs) with a European citizen could be considered as a family member of the latter and therefore benefit from favourable EU regulations on immigration.

One of the core principles of the European Union has always been to facilitate the movement of European citizens within the territories of the Member States. And obviously, expatriation is a much more attractive option if family members are allowed to remain united without time limit and with rights equivalent to those of local citizens.

These assumptions form the basis of the European directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

This regulation gives a precise definition of a “family member” that includes the spouse, the descendant, the ascendant in a state of dependance, and also “the partner with whom the Union citizen has contracted a registered partnership, on the basis of the legislation of a Member State, if the legislation of the host Member State treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation of the host Member State”.

In other words, if a civil partnership, implemented by an EU Member State such as France, confers on its signatories the same status and the same rights and obligations as a marriage contracted in the same country, then civil partners must be considered as spouses under the EU aforementioned directive, and therefore benefit from the right to move and reside freely within the EU.

Quite logically, the issue was raised concerning the French civil partnership implemented in 1999 and called Partenariat civil de solidarité (Pacs).

After all, Pacs and marriage have in common the same obligation of common life, a commitment to mutual material support and the same consequences on taxes. In the meantime, unlike marriage, Pacs contracts have little to no effect on parentage, nationality, property, and inheritance and are much easier to rescind.

READ ALSO What are the differences between Pacs and marriage?

The first answer given to that question by the French legislative power in 2006 was that Pacs and marriage were not equivalent.

In the following years however, several administrative Courts have ruled otherwise, in contradiction with French national law, and considered that the most important aspects of a Pacs contract make it roughly similar to a civil marriage.

The final word belonged to the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative Court, which in 2018 overturned this position and definitely ruled that, due to the essential differences between Pacs and marriage, only married spouses are considered family members under EU law.

In practical terms, the main outcome of this legal controversy is that non European nationals cannot apply for a French visa or residence card as family members of an EU citizen, simply due to the fact that they signed a Pacs contract with an EU national.

Of course, other solutions exist for them but, undoubtedly, they do not benefit from EU law and remain under a much less favourable status than spouses of EU citizens residing in France.

READ ALSO What type of French visa do I need?

Their main option is to apply for a residence card under the status vie privée et familiale (private and family life), but in this case préfectures require the proof of a stable and continuous common life of at least one year.

If you find yourself in this situation, be careful to submit your application file through the appropriate procedure. Any confusion, even due to the préfecture itself, could induce frustrating delays and put you in a precarious situation.

Paul Nicolaÿ is a French lawyer based near Paris and specialising in French immigration and nationality law – find his website here.

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