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US Citizens Will Need Visa to Travel to Europe in 2024
- newaccount74 3y agoFirst the US required visa-free travellers to get travel authorisation beforehand, and pay $10 for the privilege, then Canada did the same, South Korea also started doing it, I'm sure plenty of other countries too, and now it's the EU. I wonder when the EU will start reciprocating on all the financial reporting bullshit that banks have to do when dealing with US persons.
- eesmith 3y agoSo it took a few years longer than originally planned? See "US citizens will need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021" (https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-citizens-need-visas-to-visit-europe-in-2021/index.html https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-citizens-need-visas-to...) with 256 HN comments from 2019 at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19346012 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19346012 . > Although the exact launch date of the new travel authorization is uncertain, Ahh, so it could be another four years? :)
- youngtaff 3y agoIt’s just the same as EU citizens getting and ESTA to travel to (or transit) the US
- kwanbix 3y agoI was thinking the same. The problem is that journalism is very difficult to do because people are now used to free news, so they have to do these click and bait patterns that really suck and the only thing they do is generate hate. To the downvoters: Give a different opinion if you don't agree. Like it or not, it is the truth. My sister is a journalist.
- snowpid 3y agoIn Germany younger people are more willing to pay for journalism. FAZ (a better paper) hires new journalist for example.
- rainsford 3y agoWhile I don't disagree about the state of journalism, you can only fit so much information in the headline, and the similarity to what visitors to the US have to do is called out in the article. The headline itself in this case seems like a fair and accurate summary of the story.
- gumballindie 3y agoMeanwhile the eu is also preventing certain member states from free travel by not allowing them to join schengen. All thanks to two countries playing power, one of which being a russia appeaser. Not much news on that.
- ilkke 3y agoWhich two countries do you deem responsible for all of the current Schengen restrictions within EU, and which one of them is 'a Russia appeaser'?
- appleflaxen 3y agoProbably Hungary
- gumballindie 3y agoNope, it’s austria. Awash with russian money and corruption. Had a few former politicians dancing with putin’s cronies (some literally), and are still very much pro russia.
- martin8412 3y agoNetherlands isn't a Russia appeaser, but are against the inclusion of certain countries in Schengen.
- gumballindie 3y agoAustria is tho and is one of the two.
- Am4TIfIsER0ppos 3y agoDon't beat around the bush. Who is keeping who out of schengen?
- inglor_cz 3y ago
- browningstreet 3y agoThese papers (edit: US and EU versions) weren’t needed before but are going to be needed soon. Going backwards. And no one cares.
- crayboff 3y agoHonest question, do you complain that USA implemented this same type program in 2008/2009? Or do you just care now because this affects US travelers?
- browningstreet 3y agoI mean both ways. US implemented it first, Europe implemented it in return. Idiotic and unnecessary and political and, apparently, unavoidable now.
- unethical_ban 3y agoI wasn't aware EU travellers had to get a visa to enter the US. When I flew to the EU and eastern Europe in 2019, I didn't need a visa. I didn't need to tell anyone my exact dates and itinerary. I paid for a ticket, had a passport, and went.
- happymellon 3y agoYes, we have needed an ESTA for a long time now. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_System_for_Travel_Authorization https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_System_for_Travel... $20, but you have to apply regularly. They do "something" and you may or may not be approved, and everyone including children need their own one.
- petre 3y agoThis has been 100% expected. It is bacause of lack of US visa waiver to certain EU members (Romania and Bulgaria for example). It's the same for Canadians who travel to the EU and who's country lifted the mentioned restrictions. https://www.etias.ca/ https://www.etias.ca/ As much as I like Americans, you have to understand that you were priviledged before and that this privilege has ended because of your country's visa policy treating EU citizens differently.
- smnrg 3y ago"Like EU citizens applying for ESTA when visiting the US, citizens of the United States will also have to fill an online form and pay a nominal fee when visiting Europe." Not saying such restrictions should be encouraged, but the same has been needed to visit the US for a long time. Europe, however , lets its citizens re-enter a border using automated password gates without the need for a "Global Entry" subscription (in the US, that's a product you pay for to be face-scanned and skip immigration lines when coming back home.)
- greatgib 3y agoI like the fact that there is finally reciprocity with the US citizen having to experience the same shitty rules as when we travel there. But I'm a little bit sad that we will impose the same thing to other visa free travelers. First these countries will probably want to do that also in reciprocity. And secondly it is another marker of the slow decay of public liberties in Europe and the raise of the dictatorial surveillance society.
- eggy 3y ago>finally reciprocity with the US I remember traveling to European countries in the early 80s and needing to cross immigration at each border, but not having to secure a Visa ahead of time for most if any. You were given 30 to 90 days depending on the country. Remember though, the US is one of only three countries (Eritrea, Myanmar are the other 2) that taxes its own citizens even if they have not lived in the US for years. I lived in SE Asia over 6 years. I've also worked in KSA and other areas, so I know. Amazingly, you can get a tourist's Visa to KSA online in like a half hour if that as a US citizen. A working Visa is a bit more difficult. On another note, I believe Europe is in for a big downwards economic spiral worse than for the US, and does not have the geographic isolation or resource richness and flat, free land availability of the US, so this is just another dent to their future income via tourism. The war in Ukraine is not helping that to be sure. I live overseas for years and had to deal with US immigration for my wife, so I know it is lop-sided, but per Hillary Clinton and others with the same viewpoint, it is because the US Passport is the most valuable in the world. It was argued that the advantages bestowed upon US citizens needs to be met with things like FATCA, pressures on foreign countries to report US citizens banking/financial information to the US, and the once-nominal fee for rescinding your US Passport is now more punitive should you choose to give up your US citizenship. Given the dominance of the US in NATO over the past several decades, where Europe could save money on military spending to boost their own economies, all the while having the world's largest superpower be there to step in when needed, or so goes the theory, maybe wishing to include the US and its tourists in the general Visa rule is not a great idea at this time? We've got millions of illegal immigrants coming to the US every year[1] with Germany, the UK, France, and Italy receiving the lion's share of the EU (sans UK). [1] https://cis.org/Report/Estimating-Illegal-Immigrant-Population-Using-Current-Population-Survey https://cis.org/Report/Estimating-Illegal-Immigrant-Populati...
- edandersen 3y agoEurope the continent or the EU? Does this include the UK?
- dukeyukey 3y agoThe EU, although the UK is looking at introducing something similar.
- schroeding 3y ago+ Schengen & EFTA, so includes additionally Switzerland, Iceland, Norway & co
- dukeyukey 3y agoI really hate this re-introduction of visas but under a different name. Like if you want all foreign visitors to get a visa, say it! Don't say it's visa free but also make me fill out a form to get permission to enter that may or may not be accepted. Like, either allow visa-free travel or don't.
- photonbeam 3y agoWe need the passport ranking sites like Henley to downrank online application into the ‘requires visa’ category
- adrian_b 3y agoYes, I completely agree with this. I once had to go in a business trip to Australia, together with some coworkers, because we were employed by an Australian company, for a meeting at the headquarters of the company. We were supposed to travel visa-free to Australia (at that time, meanwhile it seems that Australia has introduced visas for all countries). Nevertheless, Australia required some kind of electronic approval without which we could not enter the country, for which you had to apply exactly like for any visa. After a few months of satisfying extremely invasive requests for documents from the Australian authorities, e.g. with complete details about all operations from our banking accounts for several months, the delays for issuing the "non-visa" travel approval have been so great that we missed the deadline and we had to cancel the trip. If there would have been an official requirement for visas, it could not have been worse than the "visa-free" travel. Of course, while the Australian authorities did all they could to discourage foreign visitors, the Australian citizens were able to really travel visa-free, because the other states fulfilled their obligations, according to the agreements signed with Australia. Now, when everybody requests visas, at least all are treated equally, without special privileges for the citizens of countries like USA or Australia, which have never fulfilled their promises to treat the foreigners in the same way as their own citizens are treated.
- sagarkamat 3y agoEU really needs to re-do the whole Schengen process for citizens of countries like India. Right now, you need to show booked tickets, hotel reservations, Insurance with very specific terms and a detailed itinerary even before you've been granted the visa. And after all that documentation nightmare, you get granted the visa for the exact specific dates you've requested. God forbid your plans change even by a day or two. By contrast, the Travel Visa to US, while also a painful process, at least grants you multiple entry visa thats valid for 10 years.
- Racing0461 3y agowhy does the eu need to do that? a country with 1 billion people (majority of which is poor) is a recipe for disaster.
- csmpltn 3y ago[flagged]
- bad_username 3y agoUntil quite recently, Ukrainian citizens had to endure the same gruelling process to be allowed into the Schengen zone. To travel to the US, a visa is still needed today. My point: Ukrainians are almost all non-brown, and it is a very destructive habit to inject the skin color into every issue.
- csmpltn 3y agoTravel and immigration restrictions were lifted from Ukraine for getting invaded by Russia. If it wasn't for this, their EU accession process would've remained dead in the water due to severe structural and societal issues that are now being entirely overlooked. Other countries that have been way up the queue aren't getting the same preferential treatment for some reason. There's war and suffering in Ukraine. But there's even more war and more severe suffering in other parts of the world. They don't get the same "open arms" treatment though (often, it's where brown people live).
- MisterSandman 3y agoThe wait times for US Tourist Visas for Indians is 1-2 years right now. I have a friend who applied 3 months and her interview date is in January 2025. I mean, I'm not saying you shouldn't complain about this, but I find it funny that Americans are mad about spending the 30 minutes and $30 to fill out a form. Seems entitled.
- version_five 3y agoIndia and the US are not roughly on par economically, standard of living wise, etc. There are lots of reasons why tighter restrictions are needed here that don't apply between the US and Europe, where it's really just political tit for tat.
- cute_boi 3y agoThe context is missing here. It is important to remember that many Americans visit the EU for short stays and tourism, while in the US, some people from various countries, including India, come for longer durations or even with intentions to stay permanently. The sheer volume of visa applications and varying lengths of stay could contribute to longer processing times.
- bubblethink 3y ago>The context is missing here. What you provided is not context though, just some word salad rationalization. Visas are a function of bilateral and diplomatic relations which in turn are a function of the power differential between the two parties. That's all there is to it.
- sometimes_all 3y agoMany Indians also want to visit the EU/US for short days and tourism, or for other very valid and legitimate reasons. These can be with a long history of not breaking visa norms of other countries, and yet face delays of 2+ years. It's not that these delays cannot be reduced; there's just no will to do that. It makes my blood boil that I have to endure a disproportionate burden of proof on myself: - demonstrate good financial status, have already booked tickets and accommodation (which might end up becoming a sunk cost because a bad visa result came too near to my travel date, making refunds impossible) even though visa isn't guaranteed - a very long list of paperwork to complete and sort - wait for multiple years to boot for an appointment where my application can get rejected, sometimes for really frivolous reasons just to ensure I am there for, say, my brother's graduation, a moment which will come only once in my lifetime. Meanwhile, people from other countries and with a way worse profile than mine can walk into the same country, no questions asked. They don't have to demonstrate that they're really great people with absolutely no intention of staying there for ever. In fact they can even make that decision on a whim; what's there to stop them from staying permanently in the other country even if it's not for a "good" cause? Don't treat people as criminals/paragons of virtue solely based on the country they come from.
- unethical_ban 3y agoAfter reading "Persepolis Rising" and getting a heavy dose of what propaganda and pacifying messaging from authorities, this reads like it's from that book. Make sure to mention how easy, super not-inconvenient it is. Include some initial skeptics who now have no problem with it. Resistance is indeed futile. (I don't think this is the height of tyranny - there are much worse everyday systems harming us. My commentary is on the government press release dressed as a news article.)
- inoffensivename 3y agoThe headline is a bit misleading, an electronic travel authority is not a visa and is substantially easier to obtain than an average visa. Like many have pointed out, the US requires visitors from otherwise visa-free countries to have a travel authorization to come here.
- pier25 3y agoWill US citizens also be required to answer stupid questions like if they're planning to do terrorism in the EU?
- cute_boi 3y agoAnd, if somebody ticks without thinking much, because the forms has so inputs, will they be banned forever?