British travellers to Europe won’t need a ‘euro-visa’ until 2027 thanks to further Brexit red-tape delays

British travellers will not need an online permit to visit the European Union and wider Schengen Area until April 2027 at the earliest.

The Independent has studied documents issued in Brussels that reveal a staggered roll-out for the much-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES).

The EES was supposed to replace the requirement for “wet-stamping” of passports. For several months many UK visitors will need to have their passports stamped and biometrics taken, doubling the amount of red tape – and extending queues at airports, railway stations and ferry ports.

The Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), known informally as a euro-visa, cannot take effect until six months after the EES is working at all Schengen Area frontiers. These include land borders from the Norway-Russia crossing in the Arctic to the Greece-Turkey frontier in southeast Europe, as well as every airport with direct flights from the UK and other non-Schengen nations.

The Schengen Area includes all EU nations except Ireland and Cyprus, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The EES was due to launch with a “big bang” across all Schengen frontiers on 10 November 2024. But the plan was scrapped one month ahead of the deadline when it became clear that the central database and member states would not be ready.

More information was promised “within weeks” about the next steps – but it is only this month that details of the revised plan have become clear.