After You Apply: Decisions, Mistakes, Refusals and Appeals

After submitting you receive an e-mail with your unique application number — keep it. Most applications are processed within minutes; otherwise you receive a decision within four days.

Processing can be extended to up to 14 days if you are asked to provide additional information or documents, and up to 30 days if you are invited to an interview. You are notified of the outcome by e-mail in every case.

When you receive your ETIAS, verify that your name, passport number and other details are exactly right. If the data in your travel document doesn't match the data in your ETIAS, you will be refused boarding and entry.

Mistakes in a submitted application can lead to refusal, revocation or annulment — the official portal will explain how to correct errors. If your name, gender, nationality or passport changes, you need a new ETIAS.

The refusal e-mail states the grounds for the decision and which authority took it. Typical grounds include security or irregular-migration risk, an alert in EU databases, or incorrect/incomplete data.

A refusal is not a ban: you can apply again, and you have the right to appeal. The e-mail tells you in which country to appeal and describes the procedure; appeals follow that country's national law and deadlines.

An ETIAS that no longer meets the conditions can be revoked, and one that should never have been issued can be annulled. You are informed by e-mail, including the reasons and how to appeal.

If your authorisation is revoked or annulled while you are already in Europe, contact the authorities of the country you are in. If you request cancellation of your own ETIAS, there is no appeal.

If you urgently need to travel for humanitarian reasons or important obligations — a funeral, urgent medical care, a court appearance — you may request an ETIAS with limited validity. See our dedicated page on limited-validity authorisations.