Millions of Britons will have to pay €7 (£6.29) every three years for visa-free travel to the EU from 2021.
The post-Brexit move was confirmed by the European Commission in response to a question to its President Jean Claude-Juncker.
Alongside the fee, UK citizens will need to pre-register for the three-year electronic visa waiver.
The small print of the detailed draft regulation covering visa exemptions for UK citizens travelling to the bloc says that “the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will apply to United Kingdom nationals once union law on free movement of union citizens ceases to apply to them, as to other visa-free third country nationals”.
The maintenance of visa-free travel for short-term visits to the EU, and by all EU citizens to the UK has been heralded by the government and Prime Minister Theresa May as one of the great achievements of the political declaration agreed by EU leaders at the special summit last month.
The EU has already begun to implement the system which preauthorises the entry of citizens from a special list of countries, who do not require full visas.
“Once ETIAS enters into operation, all visa-exempt non-EU nationals who plan to travel to the Schengen area will have to apply via ETIAS,” a European Commission source said.