EES, ETIAS and €20 Fee: How confusion over Europe’s new border systems fuels visa scam

By Vera Anyagafu A new digital stamp at Europe’s airports is free. The €20 travel authorisation some Nigerians are talking about does not apply to Nigerian visa applicants to Europe. Yet from Instagram vendors in Surulere to travel plazas in Onitsha, agents are charging Nigerian travellers up to N250,000 for both. Since 10 April 2026, every Nigerian arriving in Paris or Frankfurt on a short-stay Schengen visa no longer gets an ink stamp.

A camera and fingerprint scanner logs you into Europe’s Entry/Exit System (EES) automatically, at no cost. The other system, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), is the source of the rumour. It will eventually cost €20, valid for three years, but it is only for travellers who do not need a visa to enter Europe, like Americans, British, Australians and Canadians.

For Nigerians, who still need a Schengen visa, ETIAS is never required. If someone in Nigeria is charging you for it, you are paying for something you do not need. That gap is where the exploitation happens. The EES became fully operational on 10 April 2026 across all 29 Schengen countries. You do not apply for it in advance. When you land in Paris or Frankfurt, you look at a camera, place your fingers on a scanner, and your entry is recorded digitally, replacing the old ink stamp.

It applies to all non-European nationals on short stays, which includes every Nigerian travelling on a Schengen visa, and it automatically calculates your period of stay. ETIAS is different. It is a pre-travel check only for visa-exempt travellers, people who do not need a Schengen visa to visit Europe. For Nigerians who need a visa, ETIAS is never required.

If you need a Schengen visa today, you will continue to use the visa process through VFS Global or TLSContact in Lagos and Abuja. The official fee for ETIAS, when it eventually launches, will be €20 for travellers aged 18 to 70, free for under 18 and over 70, and any additional charges will go to commercial intermediaries. The only official website where the application will be available once launched is the European Union’s official ETIAS portal, and the information portal for both systems is the official Travel Europe portal managed by the European Union.

And for travellers who will eventually need it, the system is not yet open. The official portal has made it clear that no action is required at this time, and any website currently offering to process an application is not legitimate. HOW THE SCAM WORKS Consular Hub gathered that the European authorities have already identified over a hundred unofficial websites providing information on ETIAS.

These sites use convincing designs and domain names to mimic legitimate portals. Since the programme is on hold, any site requesting a €20 fee today is considered fraudulent. Travellers are warned to be very cautious because it is not currently possible to apply for an official ETIAS authorisation since the system is not operational yet. Many of these third-party sites charge inflated fees or steal personal information.

In Nigeria the pattern is now familiar. Take Sola, a 28-year-old applicant in Surulere. A travel agent on Instagram operating as Travel with Tayo told her she needed to pay N65,000 naira for mandatory ETIAS registration before her Schengen visa appointment at VFS Global. She paid and was given a receipt that looked official with a European Union logo.

At her appointment, VFS Global told her ETIAS does not apply to Nigerians and the paper was worthless. Or Emeka, a trader in Onitsha who wanted to visit his brother in Milan. An agent in his local plaza operating as Blessed Travels collected tens of thousands of naira, for EES biometric pre-registration and ETIAS approval, promising fast-track entry.

He arrived in Rome to find his entry under EES was recorded fresh at the border anyway and the extra papers meant nothing. TO STAY SAFE To stay safe as a Nigerian passport holder, remember three things; You do not pay €20 for ETIAS, you pay about €90 for the Schengen visa itself at VFS Global or TLSContact. The Entry/Exit System costs nothing and you do not pre-register for it.

And only use the official portals for information, as the protection of your personal data cannot be guaranteed if you use another website.