The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has already hired 41 new employees to work on the ETIAS Central Unit in order to make sure that the system goes fully effective by the end of 2022.
In a press release issued by the Agency on October 13, the same points out that it intends to grow the number of employees working on the ETIAS Central Unit to 200, in order for the same to be able to handle the number of travelers applying for an ETIAS.
“Around 1.4 billion people from over 60 countries around the world benefit from visa-free travel to the European Union. Starting at the end of 2022, these visa-exempt travelers will be required to apply for an ETIAS travel authorization before they start their trip,” the agency points out.
The European Travel Information and Authorisation System, shortly known as the ETIAS, is a system on which the EU has been working since 2016. The idea behind it is to enhance security in the EU and Schengen Area countries by obliging travelers to apply for an entry authorization before their trip.
The system will then check the application against other EU security databases, such as SIS, VIS, EES, Eurodac, and ECRIS-TCN, and decide whether the traveler should be permitted to travel to the EU and Schengen Area countries or not.
It is estimated that around 97 percent of the travelers will be granted authorization through an automated procedure within 96 hours. The other three percent of applications will be processed through the ETIAS National Units.
Each application will cost €7 and will be valid for three years for the entire territory of the Schengen area.
Among those that will need to obtain an ETIAS by the end of 2022 are also US nationals, Britons, Albanians, Australians, Kiwis, etc.
>> Do I Need an ETIAS?
Al comentar sobre el tema, el director ejecutivo de Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, dijo que el sistema será una parte importante de la gestión de fronteras, en particular en el mundo posterior a COVID.
“ ETIAS es una parte importante del proceso de digitalización de nuestra gestión fronteriza, que ayuda a garantizar la reanudación de la movilidad internacional en el mundo posterior a COVID con estándares más altos de seguridad y protección ”, dijo Leggeri.
Según Frontex, el bloque no es el primero en introducir un sistema de este tipo, ya que otros países también cuentan con esquemas similares, incluido EE. UU., que tiene ESTA: Sistema electrónico para la autorización de viaje .
En su comunicado de prensa, la agencia señaló que uno de los principales desafíos durante los procedimientos para crear el sistema fue conectarlo con las otras bases de datos de seguridad de la UE.