Border Control

Why travelers must now pay-sometimes exorbitantly-to enter other countries

- STORY BY GEORGE GOMEZ

REMEMBER WHEN crossing borders was just about passports and luggage tags? Now it's about remembering which digital toll you've paid. Both Europe and the United States are rolling out new entry fees—and in America's case, something closer to a security deposit. For travelers, that means budgeting for bureaucracy as well as airfare.

The European Commission has proposed raising the fee for its long delayed European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) from €7 to €20. Beginning in late 2026, ETIAS will cover visa-exempt travelers from the U.S, U.K., Canada, Japan and more. The form is simple—name, passport, date of birth—but behind the curtain, data is crosschecked against Interpol, Europol and the Schengen Information System. Most approvals come within minutes.