United States citizens will need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

US citizens traveling to Europe without a visa will be a thing of the past come 2021.

The European Union announced on Friday that American travelers will need a new type of visa -- a European Travel Information and Authorization System or ETIAS -- to visit the European Schengen Area.

The Schengen Area is a zone of 26 European countries that do not have internal borders and allow people to move between them freely, including countries like Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Italy and Poland.

Currently, US citizens can travel to Europe for up to 90 days without a visa.

To apply for the ETIAS, US citizens will need a valid passport, an email account and a credit or debit card, the EU said. Minors, the website said, will still only need their normal passports to travel after the visas go into effect.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/united-states-citizens-will-need-a-visa-to-visit-europe-starting-in-2021/ar-BBUyfIu?li=BBnbcA1

[dalton99a]

1. Not really a visa?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/09/americans-must-soon-register-not-get-visas-travel-some-european-countries/

Americans must soon register — but not get visas — to travel to some European countries
By Lindsey Bever
March 9 at 1:57 PM

Starting in 2021, Americans and travelers from other visa-free countries will have to take an extra step when visiting more than two dozen countries in Europe.

The European Union announced last year that before travel, visitors from all visa-free countries, including the United States, will need to complete an online application and pay a small fee using the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), designed “to strengthen security checks on those persons who travel visa-free to the EU,” according to a fact sheet from the European Commission. It applies to people traveling to Europe’s Schengen Zone, an area comprising 26 countries, including France, Germany and Spain, but not Britain.

Currently, U.S. citizens with a valid U.S. passport can visit Schengen countries and stay for up to 90 days without a visa, according to the State Department.

News outlets, including CNN, Esquire and Travel & Leisure, initially called the new process starting in 2021 a “visa,” but government authorities said it is not one. With ETIAS, travelers will need documentation, such as a passport, and will be asked to complete an application online and pay a $7 fee; in an expected 95 percent of cases, approval will be granted in minutes, the fact sheet said.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Heard about that. What the everlovin' fuck is the point of this?

[MineralMan]

3. So, do Europeans need a visa to visit the US?

[Thyla]

4. This will apply to most countries too.

Nothing special.

[HipChick]

6. Most of the time, these fees are hidden in the airline ticket taxes fees anyway...

[Rstrstx]

5. It's not just the US. Canadians, Australians, etc will need one too. Maybe even the UK

Though I may be reading the requirements for UK citizens incorrectly, I think their status is still up in the air.

[FightingIrish]

7. Citizens of countries not currently needing visas to enter the EU

will be required to have the ETIAS authorization. The differences between the current system and the new are requirement for a credit or debit card, an email account and the payment of the fee. The real rub is that the traveler is required to stipulate on the application the country through which they will enter the EU and they must enter through that country. I travel to Europe almost every year and I have entered through at least five different countries, usually depending upon air fares and schedules.