Two Border Rules Are Live. The Third Has No Date.

As of October 20, 2026, the United Kingdom charges £20 for an electronic travel authorization, and every traveler needs one, babies included. Europe's Entry/Exit System has been fully running since April 10. The third, a European authorization called ETIAS, is not open, and the European Union has not said when it will be.

The three are easy to blend into one. They are separate systems that cover different places, and only two of them exist today. That matters to anyone planning a trip to London, and to anyone who positions to Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, or another city in the Schengen area for a cheaper award flight out.

What is live and what is not

The UK ETA does not cover Europe, and the two European systems do not cover the UK. A trip that includes both London and Paris touches two of them today and all three once ETIAS opens.

The UK charge is per person

GOV.UK says each person traveling needs an ETA, including babies and children. The Home Office fee table lists one ETA fee, £20, up from £16 on April 8, 2026, and I found no child rate. A party of two adults and four children pays £20 six times, £120, with no refund if an application is rejected or must be redone.

The decision usually arrives by email within a day and can take up to three working days, and the Home Office recommends applying at least three working days before travel. The Home Office also says a traveler must use the same passport used to apply, so a passport renewed before the trip means applying again.

ETIAS has no date

The official ETIAS site says the system is not in operation, collects no applications, and will announce a start date several months before launch.

That is a change. The European Commission's own explainer, dated April 28, 2026, still said ETIAS was scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026. The pages that describe the system today do not repeat it.

Reports since July say the agency that builds the system, eu-LISA, concluded that a launch by the end of this year was no longer feasible, and that the start has moved into 2027. I found no official statement that gives a reason or names 2027. The EU has named no new date.

If the EU keeps its stated practice of announcing several months ahead, a start before the end of this year looks unlikely. That is my inference from the EU's own notice requirement, not an EU statement.

What ETIAS will ask when it opens

The EU's notices describe the following, all subject to change before launch:

• €20 per person, set by a Commission regulation published in October 2025. Applicants under 18 or over 70 are exempt from the fee, but every traveler, children included, files a separate application. A parent or guardian files for a minor. There are no group applications.
• Valid three years or until the passport expires, for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
• Most decisions within minutes, up to 96 hours, and up to 30 days if the EU asks for more.
• A passport that stays valid more than three months past departure and is no older than 10 years. A new passport means a new ETIAS.

Launch will not be a cliff. The EU describes a transitional period of at least six months after launch. During it, travelers should apply, but those without an authorization are not refused entry if they meet every other entry condition. A grace period of at least six months follows. During it, the authorization is required, with one exception: a traveler arriving for the first time since the transitional period ended may still enter without it. After both periods, a traveler without one is refused entry.

The EU also says carriers will check for it before boarding once the system is live. I did not find the EU saying how carriers handle the transitional period.

For the same party of two adults and four children, that is €40 in ETIAS fees if neither adult is 70 or older, on top of the £120 for the UK. A party that visits both owes both.

Five checks before booking

1. Going to the UK: apply for every traveler on gov.uk or the UK ETA app, and nowhere else. GOV.UK says another site cannot get a faster decision. Leave at least three working days.
2. Going to continental Europe: there is nothing to apply for today. A site that charges for an ETIAS application cannot file it with the EU, because the official site is not accepting any. The EU's own FAQ adds that intermediaries charge on top of the €20.
3. Read the passport dates now. ETIAS will want more than three months of validity past departure, and the EU says a new passport needs a new ETIAS. A UK ETA ends when the passport does.
4. Expect the registration step on the first entry. The EES has no advance application. The EU's Travel to Europe app can pre-register your data up to 72 hours ahead, but only where the country of entry supports it, and when I read the page only Sweden and Portugal did. I found no wait-time data, so I cannot say how long registration takes.
5. Check the official ETIAS page when booking any trip after December 2026, and again before departure. The EU says it will publish the date there.

Limits

This covers a U.S. passport holder on a short tourist stay. Dual citizens, residents, workers, students, and people in transit have separate rules, and the official pages list them. The reports of a move into 2027 trace to one original report that I could not read directly, so I have not named it. Fees and dates on all three systems have changed before. Read each page on the day of booking.