Travellers Outside Schengen To Pay Fee When Entering Iceland

Starting from 2024 and onwards, the new travel authorisation system ETIAS will require travellers outside the Schengen zone to pay a visa exemption fee when entering countries within its zone.

The travel authorisation is similar to the ESTA visa exemption program enforced in the U.S., where travellers need to pre-register their passports to gain entry into the country.

If the ETIAS authorisation is granted, it will be valid for three years or until the passport expires. The fee is priced at 7 EUR.

This new scheme mostly affects tourists with American and British passports travelling to Iceland, which comprised 41% of international travellers leaving Keflavík International Airport in 2022.

Vísir reports that Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, chairman of the Iceland Tourist Industry Association, does not expect that the scheme will massively impact the number of American and British tourists travelling to the country.