Sources and method
Every fee, validity period and country list comes from the government that runs the scheme, read on its own website on 30 September 2026. When a page was built with JavaScript, we read the data the page itself loads (for example the ETIAS site's country list), not a copy on a third-party site.
How the checker decides
- For each traveller and each passport, it looks up the destination's official lists: citizen, free movement (EU/EFTA), exempt, electronic authorisation, authorisation under conditions, or visa. A nationality missing from every list needs a visa.
- A dual national gets the best option: no formality first, then the cheapest authorisation. They must then travel on that passport.
- How you arrive matters where the law says so: Canada's eTA is for flights only; ESTA is not needed by land from Canada or Mexico.
- Fees are the official ones, per person, in the official currency. Age matters only for ETIAS (free under 18 and over 70).
What the checker does not cover: British overseas territories passports, diplomatic and service passports, residence permits and visas already held (the result page lists these exemptions), and destinations other than the six listed.
The data is kept in a dated, sourced file shared with our French-language sister site, and re-checked whenever a government announces a change.