People travelling to EU countries, including Malta, will soon have another piece of admin to face. This is completely unrelated to Covid documentations. Non-EU citizens, including Americans, Australians, Brits and other travellers from outside the Schengen zone, will need to fill out a €7 application to enter as from next year.

This was confirmed by a spokesperson from Identity Malta. She said that, “Malta is obliged to implement the changes”.

Under the so-called ’90 day rule’, citizens of these and many other countries are only permitted to spend up to 90, in every 180 days in the EU. Any longer, and they need a visa. Essentially, that is not changing, as people are still entitled to spend this much time inside the EU, but the process will no longer be completely admin-free.

Called the ‘European Travel Information and Authorisation System’ – ETIAS for short – the new rule is intended to “increase security and help prevent health threats to the bloc”.

Read the full story, with comments from the MHRA, on The Malta Business Weekly here.