General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCouple of questions about the new rule about having a Visa to travel to Europe:
1. Do you need both a Passport AND a Visa?
2. How long do Visas last?
3. Will getting a Visa take as long as getting a Passport (e.g., months)?
4. Why isn't a Passport enough to visit Europe?
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Layzeebeaver
(2,292 posts)1. YES. regardless of your international travel destination you need a passport. There are rare instances where one is not required. So rare, that you just need to get a passport - period. For some countries or blocks of countries there is a visa waiver program - where you register, pay a fee and you're done. Others require you to apply for a visa. Check your destination, and confirm whether you need a visa or a visa waiver.
2) Who knows? Every country has their own process - it depends on where you are going. Just be sure to get a visa for every block and or country you are traveling to.
3) See above.
4) because, Europe makes its own rules. Also, remember that in the past there was no visa required to travel between the US and Europe. But then at some point after 9/11 the US instituted a revised travel policy requiring all europeans to have a visa waiver or a visa to travel to the EU. It's not unexpected that shortly after that Europe responded in kind and did the same to the US.
Just get you passport - and also get your visa planning in order to start the process of applying.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)It is simply an electronic registration system that is THE SAME THING we require of visitors from visa waiver countries to the US.
Why isn't a passport enough for Europeans to visit the US?
All of your questions are answered here:
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias/what-etias_en
ETIAS travel authorisation is an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to any of these 30 European countries. It is linked to a traveller’s passport. It is valid for up to three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. If you get a new passport, you need to get a new ETIAS travel authorisation.
róisín_dubh
(12,379 posts)It’s not that complicated, I have no idea why people are losing the plot over this.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)...but people get upset because now we have to do it.
DFW
(60,429 posts)Outside of Russia and Belarus, I don’t know of any. Moldova or Albania, maybe? Even Norway and Switzerland, who are not EU members, don’t require them as far as I know. I haven’t been down to Switzerland since early June, but there was no such requirement then. I have a permanent residence permit for Germany, so I couldn’t tell you for sure if there has been a major change, but there has been no announcement of such in the European press.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)The EU has implemented a system like ESTA in the US.
so I couldn’t tell you for sure if there has been a major change, but there has been no announcement of such in the European press.
Why would there be?
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en
New requirements to travel to Europe
https://www.afar.com/magazine/europe-delays-etias-registration-system-until-2024
Europe Pushes Back ETIAS Entry System Until 2024
U.S. travelers hopping the pond won’t need to worry about the new rules for entry until next year.
DFW
(60,429 posts)The European press usually reports much more of this kind of detail than the American press does, that’s why.
Even so, when ESTA was introduced, it was done with such little publicity that our German travel agent didn’t know about it the year it started. We learned about it when my wife arrived at the Düsseldorf airport with a valid ticket to the USA, but without an ESTA, and was denied a boarding pass.
Luckily, this was before the program went full blast bureaucratic. A panic call to our German travel agent got her the ESTA within 15 minutes. The form is now three times as long, and asks for details most people don’t know off the top of their heads. Now we know, of course. My travel agents in both Germany and Texas are aware of my permanent residence permit for Germany, and would thus not have bothered me about it, since I am exempt.
no_hypocrisy
(55,358 posts)
Travel Hat
(139 posts)1. To enter the EU, you will need both a passport and the new visa.
2. They will last up to 3 years and can be used for unlimited entries into EU countries. But if need to get a new passport, say yours expires, you will need to get a new visa.
3. I've heard that it will only take a few days to a week to get. But never wait to the last second to get one.
4 It's doing 2 things. It's adding better security at the EU border and helping to pay for a new electronic passport system the are implementing.
Also I don't know how much it will cost, but I don't think it will be much.
DFW
(60,429 posts)With my wife, it has never taken longer than that, although she is no longer a first time applicant. Her data is already on file. My daughters and grandchildren are all dual citizens, so they are exempt from this paperwork. I have NEVER known European bureaucracy to work that quickly, so your advice to get on this well before departure is probably well taken. I would get this done even in the case of possible foreseen travel to the EU next year.
The last time my wife needed to renew her ESTA, I think it cost $14, which I was able to pay online with my U.S. credit card. Since credit card companies hit their customers with ”foreign currency transaction fees,” no matter how small, you can imagine the millions in windfall fees they get when Europeans have to buy $14 with euros, or Americans will have to pay if this new program is priced in euros for travelers outside the EU.
no_hypocrisy
(55,358 posts)Do you need a Visa for EACH country to you want to visit?
Example: three Visas for the United Kingdom, France, and Italy?
Travel Hat
(139 posts)But you don't need a visa for the UK. They are not in the EU.
PJMcK
(25,126 posts)Even if you only travel domestically, it’s the best form of ID you can have.
I’ve actually been waved through security at airports when using my US passport.
As far as the visas are concerned, it’s red tape so it’ll make European travel more of a hassle. No one knows yet how difficult it’ll be.
róisín_dubh
(12,379 posts)Who need a visa to come here. Which they all do (it’s called an ESTA). It takes like 5 minutes to fill out(the ESTA).
ESTAs are very, very straightforward and a friend who is not tech savvy at all did his in a few minutes on his iPhone.
DFW
(60,429 posts)Now, once you enter the EU, you can travel free of border or customs checks between the Schengen countries, including such non-EU countries as Switzerland and Norway. It’s no more complicated than traveling from Maryland to Delaware.