Any thoughts on how ETIAS will affect cruising in the Mediterranean?

[Nautes]

https://etias.com/etias-requirements/

[goeasy123]

I think the Med states will formalize their commitment to the Recommended Practices of the IMO's 1965 Convention and ETIAS will be irrelevant for leisure sailors.

[GordMay]

ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorization System.

The ETIAS is an electronic visa waiver for citizens of select visa-exempt countries; it is not a visa. Meeting ETIAS requirements means you do not need a visa to enter participating nations. If you do not have an approved ETIAS travel authorization or do not qualify for ETIAS enrollment, you can still acquire a Schengen visa to visit.

The countries that will require the ETIAS are primarily continental European countries that share a border and are co-signers of the Schengen Agreement.

When ETIAS comes into effect, third country nationals will need to pass the ETIAS pre-screening checks to book travel to participating European nations.

These countries include:
Albania
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominica
El Salvador
Georgia
Grenada
Guatemala
Honduras
Hong Kong
Israel
Japan
Kiribati
Macau
Malaysia
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldava
Montenegro
New Zealand
Nicaragua
North Macedonia
Palau
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and Grenadines
Samoa
Serbia
Seychelles
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Korea
Taiwan
Timor Leste
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Ukraine
Uruguay
United Arab Emirate
United Kingdom
United States
Venezuela

The ETIAS is officially scheduled to come online in 2024. Once initiated, there will be a 180-day period of grace.
Once the six-month grace period has expired, all third-country nationals will require ETIAS approval.

More ➥ https://etias.com/etias-application

[Dockhead]

The big change which will come with ETIAS (or rather, the overall Smart Borders Package program of which ETIAS is a part) is that you will no longer be able to slide through Schengen overstays.

There will be a centralized database for the first time which will electronically register every entry and departure from Schengen, instantly flagging overstays.

Enforcement in the past was quite spotty, based on laborious checks of passport stamps. No longer. There will no longer even be passport stamps.

The preclearance procedure itself seems fairly trivial; just do it well in advance.

The big unanswered question is how this will work in connection with the bilateral agreements the U.S. and some other countries have, which give longer than Schengen's 90/180 in several countries. The problem is no borders and no checks within Schengen. Some information suggests that you will now have to actually apply for bilateral treaty benefits, which will then be put into your file in the system. But how will they know you spent that time, in that country? These bilateral agreements are not quite harmonious with the idea of Schengen and it will be interesting to see if they survive.

[Nautes]

Interesting. Thank you.