The Western Balkans’ citizens will have to get permission and to pay a seven Euro tax before being allowed to cross any Schengen country’s border as of January 2021 regardless of visa-free regime, an agency reported on Thursday.

Brussels sources told Beta news agency that the duty was introduced within other measures taken by the European Union to implement a stricter regime of controlling the outer block’s borders.

The move, decided upon by the EU member states’ ambassadors, has still to be confirmed by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers before it becomes effective in less than three years from now within the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).

The decision covers all citizens outside the Union who do not need a visa for the Schengen’s states, including the Western Balkaners, sources from the EU Council of Ministers told Beta.

The system says that after submitting a request, the EU will provide a traveller with an answer within the 96 hours deadline stipulated by the ETIAS if a checking is required.

Once approved, the travel licence will last three years, or till the expiration date on the documents.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Valentin Radev said that the measure would alert authorities who was entering a country even before the actual arrival “so that those who might be a threat to our citizens can be stopped on time.