The European Commission has quietly confirmed that the fee for the forthcoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will rise from the originally announced €10 to **€20** when the scheme launches in late 2026. The news, reported by the Brussels Post on 7 April, reflects higher-than-expected operating and cybersecurity costs for the bloc’s new pre-travel clearance. ETIAS will apply to nationals of more than 60 visa-exempt countries—including the United States, United Kingdom and Japan—who visit any of the 27 Schengen states plus micro-states that apply Schengen rules.
![EU Confirms ETIAS Fee to Rise to €20, Hitting Visa-Exempt Travellers to Italy]()
Travellers looking for a one-stop service to navigate ETIAS alongside any traditional visa requirements may find it easier to outsource the paperwork. VisaHQ, for instance, already assists with Schengen visa filings and will integrate ETIAS pre-authorisations into its platform ahead of the 2026 launch—see https://www.visahq.com/italy/ for details—allowing both individuals and corporate travel teams to batch applications, track status and receive compliance alerts from a single dashboard.
Although the authorisation will remain valid for three years (or until passport expiry), corporate‐travel analysts say doubling the fee will add meaningful cost for frequent short-hop travellers, particularly SMEs and project-based contractors commuting to Italy. The price hike lands just days before the Schengen Entry/Exit System goes fully live, signalling the EU’s determination to recoup the expense of its new digital border stack. Industry groups such as the European Travel Agents’ & Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) warn that cumulative "border tech" fees could dent Europe’s price competitiveness for events and incentive trips. For Italian tourism boards, the concern is more nuanced. Italy benefits disproportionately from long-haul leisure traffic and could see per-capita spend remain robust even after the fee increase. Business-travel managers, however, face new budget lines: a U.S. engineer flying to an Italian plant four times over three years will effectively pay €5 per trip—modest, yet another administrative step to manage. Action points: factor the higher ETIAS cost into 2026 travel budgets; communicate the need for advance authorisation to colleagues who currently enter Italy visa-free; and monitor potential corporate-bulk payment solutions, which the Commission says it is "exploring" to streamline large-volume applications.
Travellers looking for a one-stop service to navigate ETIAS alongside any traditional visa requirements may find it easier to outsource the paperwork. VisaHQ, for instance, already assists with Schengen visa filings and will integrate ETIAS pre-authorisations into its platform ahead of the 2026 launch—see https://www.visahq.com/italy/ for details—allowing both individuals and corporate travel teams to batch applications, track status and receive compliance alerts from a single dashboard.
Although the authorisation will remain valid for three years (or until passport expiry), corporate‐travel analysts say doubling the fee will add meaningful cost for frequent short-hop travellers, particularly SMEs and project-based contractors commuting to Italy. The price hike lands just days before the Schengen Entry/Exit System goes fully live, signalling the EU’s determination to recoup the expense of its new digital border stack. Industry groups such as the European Travel Agents’ & Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) warn that cumulative "border tech" fees could dent Europe’s price competitiveness for events and incentive trips. For Italian tourism boards, the concern is more nuanced. Italy benefits disproportionately from long-haul leisure traffic and could see per-capita spend remain robust even after the fee increase. Business-travel managers, however, face new budget lines: a U.S. engineer flying to an Italian plant four times over three years will effectively pay €5 per trip—modest, yet another administrative step to manage. Action points: factor the higher ETIAS cost into 2026 travel budgets; communicate the need for advance authorisation to colleagues who currently enter Italy visa-free; and monitor potential corporate-bulk payment solutions, which the Commission says it is "exploring" to streamline large-volume applications.
