Visas now required for European travel?

[Stillfloatin']

I just heard on the news that the EU parliament has voted to suspend their Visa Free program for tourists from the U.S. as retaliation for our recent travel restrictions on visitors from certain countries. I have not been able to ascertain when this begins, but if it is immediately or very soon, that would definitely affect anyone flying into Europe. Does anyone have more information on this issue?

[SuiteTraveler]

No vote yet, just some political maneuvering going on to try to decide the question of reciprocity.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/europe/eu-america-visa-trnd/index.html

[ColinIllinois]

If you Google "visas for europe" you will find a lot of stories on the subject.

[philip_eunice1]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/amp.dailycaller.com/2017/03/03/eu-moves-to-end-visa-free-travel-for-americans/

 

More to do with EU countries than some sort of retaliation

 

 

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[CPD050]

Has to do with the EU being upset that the US still has not given all the EU countries visa free travel to US. The US still requires visas from citizens of Romania , Bulgaria and a few other countries. I believe 6 in total

[CPD050]

Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, and Romania Require visas for the US

[$hip$hape]

If you Google "visas for europe" you will find a lot of stories on the subject.

For example...

Years ago I asked why Brazil is one of the more expensive countries in South America to travel or live in, and it charges upon entry as well.

To visit the Brazil, U.S. citizens will need to pay $160 USD.

The Brazilian Embassy said it's tit-for-tat.

The USA charges the same for Brazilians coming to the US.

Sooo, both governments make out.:cool:

[pieshops]

I just heard on the news that the EU parliament has voted to suspend their Visa Free program for tourists from the U.S. as retaliation for our recent travel restrictions on visitors from certain countries. I have not been able to ascertain when this begins' date=' but if it is immediately or very soon, that would definitely affect anyone flying into Europe. Does anyone have more information on this issue?[/quote']

 

 

not exactly, this goes back to the last administration, nothing to do with whats going on now, very easy to look up

[Stillfloatin']

Thanks everyone, I will pay closer attention to this issue to see if it ever gets to a vote.

[SuiteTraveler]

The issue is pretty straight forward. The 5 countries in question apparently can't provide the information that the US requires for Visa free travel that they have known the US requires for years. The EU is trying to push the US into accepting these 5 countries without Visas anyway because they want all EU countries to be treated the same. That's why they doing this political wrangling.

[rocklinmom]

We are booked on the Getaway on a Baltic cruise in July...should we be concerned? I haven't paid final payment yet but do have nonrefundable airfare. Does this mean we might be forced to pay for and try to rush visa's for my family?

[norway olin]

We are booked on the Getaway on a Baltic cruise in July...should we be concerned? I haven't paid final payment yet but do have nonrefundable airfare. Does this mean we might be forced to pay for and try to rush visa's for my family?

 

 

I would not expect anyone here to be able to predict what may happen.

We have a European trip in June, but I can't see fretting over the unknown.

We have often gotten visas in the past and it is usually not a big deal.

[ILWU13]

We are booked on the Getaway on a Baltic cruise in July...should we be concerned? I haven't paid final payment yet but do have nonrefundable airfare. Does this mean we might be forced to pay for and try to rush visa's for my family?

 

 

Have a trip in June planned and was frazzled when I heard the news yesterday. After reading a few articles sounds like if it in fact happens should be a pretty easy process and not that expensive. Some articles even state that it is something that will take some time to actually happen

[tgwabd]

You will need a visa for each country that you visit.....

[easyboy]

Hope not in the near future.

[norway olin]

You will need a visa for each country that you visit.....

 

Please cite a reference.

[Regguy]

You will need a visa for each country that you visit.....

 

 

Schengen currently offers Schengen visa to people from countries that need them and there are no border controls between Schengen countries.

 

So, at least for Schengen, what possible basis could you have to make a claim like this? The hyperbolic panic with which the press is reporting that everyone's trips to Europe are about to be ruined is already over the top but addition information like this really doesn't help.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Regguy

[Regguy]

I don't think any of this is going to happen, but if it does the issue is unlikely to be that significant except that you will have to spend some money. Schengen visas are about 60 euros. They can be gotten very quickly. If you have an Adriatic cruise you might theoretically also need a Croatia visa.

 

If you visit the U.K. or Ireland you could theoretically need a separate visa but it seems very unlikely the U.K. would follow an EU decision to require U.S. citizens to have visas since the U.S. does not require U.K. citizens to have them.

 

not exactly, this goes back to the last administration, nothing to do with whats going on now, very easy to look up

 

 

While this is true (and should say "administrations"), the problem is that the current administration is much less likely to be willing to work out a diplomatic solution to the non-reciprocity problem than prior administrations. This is not a partisan statement, just the reality. I still think this will amount to nothing, although I suspect there could be some added paperwork and financial burden for cruisers with calls in Dubrovnik and Split -- though even there I would guess there would be a closed loop cruise exemption for cruises starting in EU.

 

If you're planning to include a land visit to one of the five countries or they will be your EU point of entry or departure you may need a visa.

[hawkeyetlse]

Revoking US visitors' visa exemption would not be "reciprocity" since most EU citizens currently enjoy visa-free travel to the US. They could come up with something like ESTA that Americans would have to apply for and pay a small fee for before traveling to Europe, and I wouldn't see anything wrong with that. But I think it would cost more money than it would bring in, and I somehow doubt that the EU cares enough about this principle to actually go through with it, and I don't think there's any way they could implement it by this summer…

 

Given the current administration's temperament, making threats like this is pretty much the best way to guarantee that there will be no relaxation of US visa requirements for Bulgarians, Romanians, etc. anytime soon.

[Regguy]

My reference to the "non-reciprocity problem" was to the fact that currently the USA does not reciprocate with respect to visa-free travel to five countries in the EU that permit USA citizens to enter with visas.

 

I think it's correct that if the EU were to ban visa free travel to its entire region that would create non-reciprocity in the other direction with respect to 20 plus countries. At least, it would until the US then required those citizens to obtain visas, which would almost certainly follow if the EU were to take this measure.

[hawkeyetlse]

Actually, I hadn't seen your previous message when I posted, so I wasn't nit-picking your use of the term "reciprocity" (and "non-reciprocity" is an accurate description of the current situation). The EU itself uses this language (because at issue are earlier reciprocity agreements that have not been fully respected). I just wanted to make it clear that if they actually go through with what they have resolved to do, it wouldn't simply be tit for tat in the interest of achieving reciprocity (which is a legitimate diplomatic principle). It would be an escalation, and I don't see that going anywhere good. Which means we will probably go there. :(

Edited March 5, 2017 by hawkeyetlse

[Regguy]

Ahh -- gotcha. Sorry if that was an overreaction. You may be correct. If the U.K. were part of the equation, I think cooler heads would prevail because of the economics of free flow of travel between London and the USA. Frankfurt and Zurich are also a concern, but not as significant.

 

Since it would be easy to exempt the U.K., though, I have some fear that cooler heads will not prevail here and the EU is under pressure to stick up for all its members. We'll see. I still think there is too much to lose here for everyone and eventually common sense will win the day. But even though the odds are low, the conditions to permit something stupid like this happen are such that the odds are likely higher than they have ever been.

[coloradocruiselover88]

It is quite easy to find out what you may or may not need by visiting the US Consulate website for the countries to you are wishing to visit, right? I recently had to send 4 executive to Bratislava, Slovakia and looked here and found no visa needed:

 

https://sk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/

[BirdTravels]

Thanks everyone' date=' I will pay closer attention to this issue to see if it ever gets to a vote.[/quote']

 

 

Maybe take a few minutes to get your facts straight.

[hawkeyetlse]

It is quite easy to find out what you may or may not need by visiting the US Consulate website for the countries to you are wishing to visit, right?

Unfortunately no website can tell you reliably what you will or will not need for a trip 3 or 4 months down the line. As we all know from recent events, the requirements can change from one minute to the next, with zero warning (although thankfully it is rare for a country to deliberately choose to catch people off guard like that).

 

If the EU does decide to make Americans get visas or apply for some kind of ESTA-style visa waiver, I'm sure it will be announced many weeks/months in advance.