2026 visa policy changes: what's different this year

A roundup of the visa rule changes that actually affect travelers in 2026 — the EU's EES going live and ETIAS coming, China's expanded 30-day visa-free list (now ~50 countries, incl. the UK and Canada), Pakistan dropping visa-on-arrival, the UK ETA, Brazil's eVisa, and more.

2025 and 2026 have been unusually busy years for visa policy. Several changes are big enough to change how you plan a trip — new biometric borders in Europe, a much longer China visa-free list, and a handful of countries quietly dropping visa-on-arrival. Here's a practical roundup of what actually changed, verified against official sources. We update this as policies move.

Europe: EES is live, ETIAS is next

The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational on 10 April 2026. At external Schengen borders, passport stamps are being replaced by a biometric record (facial image + fingerprints) taken on your first entry. There's no fee and no application — it happens at the border.

The separate ETIAS travel authorization is expected in the last quarter of 2026, after a mandatory EES stress period. It will cost €20 (free for under-18s and over-70s), be valid up to 3 years, and apply to visa-exempt nationals — Americans, Britons, Japanese, Australians, and so on. A transitional grace period is expected to run until roughly April 2027, so ETIAS is not mandatory yet. Until then, a valid passport is still enough to enter.

Two more Schengen notes: Bulgaria and Romania became full Schengen members on 1 January 2025, so the 90-days-in-180 short-stay clock now spans them too. And the EU visa-exemption list is unchanged — nationalities that needed a Schengen visa before (e.g. Chinese and Indian passport holders) still do, and ETIAS does not apply to them.

China: the visa-free list keeps growing

China's unilateral 30-day visa-free policy has expanded dramatically and now covers roughly 50 countries, valid through 31 December 2026 for most. Ordinary passport holders can enter for tourism, business, family visits, exchanges or transit — no visa, no application.

• Recently added: the United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden.
• Added earlier in 2025: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
• Validity differs in a few cases — Russia's exemption runs to 14 September 2026; Brunei's has no expiry.

China also runs a generous 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit for many more nationalities at designated ports. If you hold a passport that isn't on the unilateral list, check whether your route qualifies for transit instead.

New "you need authorization before you fly" systems

Several countries replaced on-arrival processing with mandatory pre-travel authorizations. The pattern is the same everywhere: apply online, get approved, then board.

• United Kingdom — ETA. The UK Electronic Travel Authorisation is now required for visa-exempt visitors before travel. It's cheap and quick, but you must have it before boarding.
• Kenya — eTA. Kenya scrapped visas for an eTA in 2024, then in 2025 exempted most African nationals. Everyone else still needs the eTA (~USD 32.50).

Countries that dropped visa-on-arrival

A few destinations made entry harder by withdrawing visa-on-arrival — so the old "sort it out at the airport" approach no longer works:

• Pakistan suspended its visa-on-arrival and free Visa-Prior-to-Arrival programs on 1 January 2026 for 126 nationalities. You now need a paid e-visa via the official NADRA portal, with processing that can take 1–3 weeks — so no more last-minute trips.
• Iraq suspended visa-on-arrival for ~37 nationalities in March 2025; federal Iraq now requires an eVisa via evisa.iq before arrival (the Kurdistan Region runs a separate system).

eVisa and fee changes worth knowing

• Brazil reintroduced an eVisa requirement for US, Canadian and Australian tourists (VITUR online system).
• Kyrgyzstan shortened its visa-free allowance from 60 days/120 to a maximum of 30 days within any 60-day period (Resolution No. 855, effective 31 December 2025) for ~55 nationalities.
• Madagascar tripled its short-stay eVisa fee to €30 (about USD 35) from €10, effective 16 February 2026.

What this means for planning

• Heading to Europe? Nothing extra to file yet, but expect biometric capture at the border now and an ETIAS application later in 2026.
• Going to China? Check the visa-free list first — you may not need a visa at all anymore.
• Anywhere with a new ETA/eVisa/“authorization before boarding” rule: apply days to weeks ahead, not at the airport.
• Always confirm on the official government portal before booking non-refundable travel — these rules are moving fast in 2026.

Every country-pair guide on canivisit.com cites its official sources and a last-verified date. Use the checker to see the current rule for your exact passport and destination.