The EU Has Two New Border Systems. Only One Wants Your Money.

The EU Has Two New Border Systems. Only One Wants Your Money.

One EU border system is live and free, the other costs twenty euros and is not live yet, and scam sites already blur the two.

Marieke van der Velde

European passport control signage at a border, no identifiable people, for the EES/ETIAS piece on the EU's two new border systems

Photo Daniel Schludi / Unsplash

The EU has two new border systems, and confusing them hands your card to a scam site. One is live and free, the other costs twenty euros and is not switched on yet.

EES is live (since April 10, 2026): a biometric border check, nothing to apply for, nothing to buy. Any site charging for it is charging for nothing.
The only official tool is the free Travel to Europe app from Frontex; check the publisher reads "European Union - Publications Office."
ETIAS is not live, slated for the last quarter of 2026: twenty euros, applied for online, no fast-track exists.
Do not lean on the "grace period"; apply the day the portal opens.

Bookmark the two real domains, both ending travel-europe.europa.eu. The lookalikes are the ones with their hand out.