The €7 EU visa every British passport holder must have to avoid being turned away at Scottish airports

British passport holders travelling to Europe next year risk being turned away at airports and ports if they do not hold a valid visa waiver.

From 2025, British citizens travelling to 30 countries in the European Union, including from Scottish airports, will have to pay €7 (about £6) for a visa waiver to enter the bloc.

Officials in Brussels announced the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) visa waiver is on course to launch in spring 2025, six months after the delayed EES – the Entry/Exit System for travel to Europe, which it has confirmed will launch on November 10.

Official EU guidance states “travellers will not be allowed to board their plane, bus or sea vessel, if they do not have a valid Etias”.

The fee would need to be paid by those travelling from Scottish airports to EU destinations. Picture: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson

While the EU says “most applications will be processed within minutes”, it advises the turn-around time is likely to take up to 96 hours, meaning travellers who have failed to apply in time risk being turned away at check-in.

The European Commission first introduced the idea of Etias in April 2016. As a result of Brexit, British passport-holders will be required to participate in EES and Etias to enter Europe.

The roll-out of the schemes suggest the UK’s attempts at getting special treatment on EES and Etias have failed.

Former foreign secretary Lord Cameron this year revealed he feared “long delays” without mitigation to EES, which will force British travellers to input biometric data like photographs and fingerprints when travelling to the EU, and said it was a top “two or three” issue that he raised in talks with European foreign ministers.

Labour’s new Brexit Reset Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds also raised the imminent threat of the new controls in talks with Brussels.

While it is understood Mr Thomas-Symonds is likely to raise the travel checks again, the commission’s confirmation they would launch on November 10 suggests the UK’s lobbying has failed.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said that EES and Etias “will add significant complexities for many travellers”. Some airlines and holiday companies have also expressed concerns that many people will be insufficiently prepared and could face disruption.

There were around 700 million tourist arrivals in Europe in 2023 and new tech is being rolled out across the continent to facilitate the biometric and document scanning of non-EU nationals required for EES. The Etias visa waiver is similar to the US’s $21 (£17) Esta system.

It will be valid for three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first.

The EU says Etias and EES are designed to make the EU’s border more secure, but critics say their introduction will make travel significantly more complicated and bureaucratic.

Chris Jones, director of StateWatch, which monitors civil liberties and other issues in the EU, said: “Travellers will have to deal with longer waiting times at borders and will face the risk of being flagged as a ‘risk’ by an algorithm.”

Despite the questions surrounding the schemes, European Commissioner Ylva Johansson is convinced they will be successful.

“With the EES, we will know exactly who enters the Schengen area with a foreign passport,” Ms Johansson said.

“We will know if people stay too long, countering irregular migration. And the Entry/Exit System will make it harder for criminals, terrorists or Russian spies to use fake passports thanks to biometric identification, photos and fingerprints.”