Applying for ETIAS on someone else's behalf

EU Regulation 2018/1240, the law that establishes ETIAS, explicitly allows someone else to submit an ETIAS application on your behalf. That person is called a representative, and the mechanism exists precisely because not every traveller can fill in an online form themselves. Parents apply for young children. Adult children apply for elderly parents. Carers apply for people in their charge. The application is still individual, the authorisation still belongs to the traveller, and the traveller is still the one crossing the border. But the act of submitting the form can be handed to someone else.

Who can act as a representative?

The regulation does not restrict who can submit an application on your behalf. A family member, a friend, an employer and a commercial travel intermediary all fall within scope. What matters is that the representative declares their identity and relationship within the application form itself. Anonymously filling in someone else’s ETIAS is not permitted. The system needs to know who submitted it and why.

For minors under 18, the position is slightly different: a child cannot apply in their own name at all. The application must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian. The same rule applies to people under legal guardianship due to age, health or disability. The guide to ETIAS for under-18s covers the children’s fee exemption and the parent application process in more detail.

The Declaration of Representation

Whenever someone submits an ETIAS application on behalf of another adult who is capable of travelling independently, both parties must sign what the official guidance calls a Declaration of Representation. This is a formal statement that the traveller authorises the named representative to submit the application and to handle their personal data during the process. The declaration is tied to the specific application, not to the representative generally, so it needs to be completed for each separate ETIAS you submit on someone else’s behalf.

The declaration exists to create accountability. If the answers given in the application are inaccurate, the traveller remains legally responsible for those answers. A representative who completes the form does not absorb the applicant’s obligation to answer truthfully. The declaration makes that clear in writing.

One rule that often catches people out: whose email address?

The email address entered in the application must be the traveller’s own, not the representative’s. All official communication about the ETIAS, including the decision, any requests for further information and the authorisation itself, goes to that address. If a parent enters their own email when applying for an adult child, the adult child may never see a request for additional information during the review period, which can cause a delay that looks like a rejection.

For elderly parents who do not use email independently, the practical solution is to create or use an email address the family has access to, enter that address in the form, and monitor it throughout the process. The ETIAS decision is tied to the traveller’s passport, not to the email address, so using a family or carer-managed inbox is not in itself a problem, provided the traveller genuinely has access to it.

What a travel agent can and cannot do

Travel agents and tour operators can complete the ETIAS form on a client’s behalf, and the regulation explicitly contemplates commercial intermediaries doing so for a fee. What an agent cannot do is certify that the answers are true. The traveller must have reviewed and confirmed every item in the application before it is submitted. A travel agent who fills in incorrect information based on what the client told them is not the one who faces the consequences at the border.

If you use a travel agent to manage your ETIAS, confirm clearly whether they are submitting it on your behalf or helping you submit it yourself. The distinction matters for the declaration and for who monitors the inbox for updates. Any agent who claims to guarantee approval or who charges substantially more than the official £17 / €20 fee without being transparent about any service charge is worth avoiding. Our guide to ETIAS scams covers the red flags in detail.

Each person still needs their own ETIAS

There are no group applications. A family of four needs four ETIAS authorisations, one per passport. A representative can submit all four in a single session, but each one is a separate application, each one costs €20 per adult (free for under-18s and over-70s), and each one can receive a different decision. An approval for one family member does not carry over to the others.

When does this become relevant?

ETIAS applications are not open yet. The system is expected to launch in 2027, with the exact date still to be confirmed. No action is required yet. Applications are not open. The representative provisions come into effect alongside the rest of the application system. Knowing how they work now means families and carers are not surprised when the portal opens.

Official application details will be published at travel-europe.europa.eu/etias when the system is live. The ETIAS status page carries the latest on timing.