Romania and Bulgaria joined Schengen: EES and ETIAS

If you last visited Romania or Bulgaria before spring 2024, the border rules are now completely different. Both countries joined the Schengen area in two stages: air and sea borders on 31 March 2024, land borders on 1 January 2025. The practical results for 2026 travellers are EES biometric checks at every crossing, days in Romania or Bulgaria counting toward your Schengen 90-day total, and ETIAS required for both countries when the application portal opens.

What changed and when

• 31 March 2024.Internal air and sea border controls lifted. Flying to Bucharest Henri Coandă or Sofia Airport from outside Schengen became a formal Schengen arrival. Days there began counting toward the 90/180 rule.
• 1 January 2025. Land border checks removed. Driving from Hungary into Romania or from Greece into Bulgaria no longer crossed an external Schengen boundary. Both countries became fully Schengen.
• 12 October 2025. EES began its phased rollout at Schengen external borders, including Romanian and Bulgarian airports and land crossings. Biometric enrolment started for non-EU short-stay travellers.
• 10 April 2026. EES became fully operational. Every crossing into Romania or Bulgaria from outside Schengen now registers facial image, fingerprints and travel-document data at the border desk.

Do days in Romania and Bulgaria count toward the 90-day limit?

Yes, from 31 March 2024 onwards. A day spent in Bucharest or on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast counts exactly the same as a day in Paris or Madrid toward your Schengen 90/180-day allowance. Before that date, neither country was part of Schengen and days there were outside the count entirely.

EES calculates this automatically. When you arrive at any Romanian or Bulgarian border crossing, the system checks your remaining Schengen days from your full entry and exit history across all 30 ETIAS-covered countries. That history includes any Schengen days used in Romania or Bulgaria from March 2024 onwards. If admitting you would put you over 90 days in the rolling 180-day window, you can be refused entry.

For most holiday visitors on one trip a year, this changes nothing practical. For anyone who visits Europe frequently, it narrows the allowance. A two-week trip to Sunny Beach in summer 2024 used 14 Schengen days that are in the record.

Does EES apply at Bulgarian and Romanian resorts and ski areas?

EES applies at the point of entry into Schengen, which for most package travellers is the arrival airport. Sunny Beach, Albena, Varna, Bansko, Borovets and every other destination within Bulgaria or Romania are simply inside Schengen once you have crossed the external border. You are not checked again at the resort.

What this means in practice: if you are flying from the UK to Varna or Sofia this summer, expect EES biometric checks on arrival. First-time visitors since the rollout go through full enrolment (fingerprints and a facial image). Build in at least an extra 30 to 60 minutes on top of your normal airport arrival buffer. The EES queue guide for summer 2026 covers typical wait times at major Schengen airports.

Will ETIAS be required for Romania and Bulgaria?

Yes. Both countries are listed in EU Regulation 2018/1240, the legislation that creates ETIAS. When the application portal opens, travellers from visa-exempt countries will need a valid ETIAS before boarding a flight or crossing any land border into Romania or Bulgaria from outside Schengen, exactly as for France, Spain or any other ETIAS-covered country.

The terms are the same across all 30 covered countries: €20 per adult, free for under-18s and over-70s (though they still need the authorisation), valid for 3 years or until the linked passport expires, covering multiple trips within that window.

Applications are not open yet. No action is required yet. Applications are not open. See the ETIAS status page for the current official position.

If you last crossed into Romania or Bulgaria before 2024

You will go through EES for the first time on your next visit. No EES record exists for crossings before Schengen accession, so the border system treats you as a first-time enrollee. That means fingerprints and a facial scan at the desk. The process takes a few minutes per person. Once enrolled, future crossings are quicker because the system already holds your biometrics.

If you have Schengen days from trips to Romania or Bulgaria in 2024 or 2025 that you had not counted before, check your remaining allowance before booking onward travel. The guide to checking your Schengen days explains how to see your EES record and count the remaining time correctly.