It’s been confirmed that British travellers won’t need to apply for a visa-waiver (ETIAS) to visit the EU until spring 2025, at the earliest.

A notice on the official ETIAS website says the scheme will now start in ‘mid-2025’.

An EU official told Schengenvisainfo that the visa-waiver scheme is expected to launch in May 2025, but the start date could be pushed back again.

The launch of the visa-waiver scheme has been repeatedly delayed due to ongoing problems with the introduction of an Entry/Exit System (EES), which must be in place for ETIAS to operate effectively.