The ETIAS visa waiver permits travelers to enter all countries in the Schengen Area, including Belgium, by land, sea, or air. Visitors will be able to choose to arrive by ferry but leave by airplane.
Travelers holding the ETIAS will be able to arrive in and depart from Belgium in the following ways:
- By crossing the land border into Belgium if arriving by car, coach, bus, or on foot from bordering countries
- By flying into an airport and passing through Belgian border control with the ETIAS
- By landing on a boat at an international seaport and passing through border control.
There is no restriction on departing the country by a different method from that which you arrived. This is good news for travelers visiting more than one country, such as those visiting France and Belgium or traveling from Belgium to Germany.
The countries around Belgium sharing land borders are fellow Schengen countries (France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Germany), meaning that ETIAS holders will be able to travel freely between these states by land once they have arrived in the Schengen Area.
Ferry services run from ports such as Zeebrugge to Schengen countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Spain, which will allow ETIAS holders to travel between these countries and Belgium by sea as they please.
There are also ferry services between Belgian ports and various parts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, which have different visa requirements, being outside the Schengen Area. Travelers with both an ETIAS and the appropriate documentation to enter these countries will be able to travel between them by ferry.
Air travel is often the quickest and most popular method of traveling to and from Belgium. The ETIAS will allow visitors to fly into Belgium. There is no reason why travelers couldn’t also leave Belgium by plane even if they arrived by land or sea.