How will the EU Effectively Run this New Visa Waiver?
Many nations already have a Visa waiver system in place. The USA was the first,
ratifying its Visa waiver system in 1986. Times have changed, and in an age of
accessible travel, Visa waiver systems come under the strain of high passenger volumes.
The existential threat of terrorism has forced the EU to tackle these challenges to
screen the millions of tourists that apply for ETIAS and travel to the Schengen area
from outside of the EU every year.
A key aspect of the effort will be leveraging artificial intelligence technology, which
will handle a significant quantity of the administrative burden. The system will only
alert authorities when it finds a traveller who poses a potential risk to the EU,
allowing human staff to scrutinise far fewer cases.
Administrative staff are working hard to have the ETIAS system in place before the
2023 launch date. They have been largely successful, and the computer systems have been
ready since August 3rd. Systems are not the only aspect of the ETIAS setup. The EU has
had substantially more difficulties acquiring the necessary border and administrative
staff to run ETIAS effectively.
The EU is still on track to have ETIAS the system in place for 2023. However, commentators
are expecting teething difficulties, most notably with the biometric checks which will
be required on the border. Nicaraguans must Factor this into their plans.