Aussies heading overseas for a European holiday face new requirements from next year.
Travellers will need to apply for authorisation to enter 30 countries through the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
The online application costs about $11 and is required for visa-exempt nationals from about 60 countries.
This includes Australians heading over for a short-stay holiday of up to 90 days within a 180-day period.
As well as providing personal information and valid passport details, the application asks about any criminal convictions or past travel to war zones.
According to the EU, most applications take minutes to process but could take up to four days.
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In some cases applicants could be asked for further information or documentation, or even invited to an interview which could blow out the wait time to 30 days.
Once approved the ETIAS is valid for three years or until the passport it is linked to expires, whichever comes first.
The new system addresses an "information gap on visa-free travellers", former EU home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said when the move was agreed to in 2018.
"Anyone who poses a migratory or security risk will be identified before they even travel to EU borders, while the travel of bona fide travellers will be facilitated," he said.
ETIAS doesn't guarantee automatic entry to Europe with travellers still required to meet entry conditions at the border.
Travellers are warned to avoid unofficial websites spruiking the ETIAS. The official website is travel-europe.europa.eu/etias
The ETIAS is launching in 2024 for entry into these 30 countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
