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Will American tourists need to pay a fee to visit Germany?

The EU has plans to introduce an entry requirement for holidaymakers from non-EU countries - including Americans. Here's how it will work for people travelling to Germany.

Published: 27 July 2023 10:51 CEST
Updated: 28 July 2023 12:54 CEST
Will American tourists need to pay a fee to visit Germany?
Will American tourists need a visa to visit Germany? Illustration photo: Frankfurt airport Photo by ANDRE PAIN / AFP)

There are two big changes afoot when it comes to travel into the EU, including Germany, which will affect arrivals from the USA.

Because the EU loves an acronym, both of them are known by their initials – EES and ETIAS. EES is essentially an enhanced passport check with fingerprinting – find full details of that here.

But the one that will have the biggest effect on tourists and people arriving in Germany for short trips is ETIAS. 

In short, it will require all arrivals into the EU to register in advance online, at a cost of €7 (free for over 70s and under 18s).

Who?

The ETIAS requirement applies to all arrivals into the EU from a non-EU country – including the USA – who do not have a German (or other EU) visa or residency card.

It will therefore mostly apply to tourists, second-home owners or people on family visits.

At present Americans benefit from the 90-day rule, which allows people to spend 90 days out of every 180 in the EU without the need for a visa.

ETIAS is technically a visa waiver, rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of entirely paperwork-free travel.

How?

Travellers will have to fill out an online application before departure, giving their personal details such as name, age, address.

Once issued, the authorisation lasts for three years, so frequent travellers do not need to complete a new application every time, but it must be renewed every three years.

The online application is set up to give a rapid response, and people would generally not need to fill it in until about 72 hours before travel, although the full details of the system are yet to be revealed.

Anyone who has not completed the online process will be denied boarding at the airport. 

How much?

Each application costs €7, but is free for under 18s and over 70s. It lasts for three years and can be used for multiple trips.

When?

The introduction of the ETIAS system has been delayed several times and is currently scheduled for 2024, with no precise introduction date.

It will come into effect after EES is introduced – EES is currently set to be introduced some time in 2024, but the French government isf pushing hard for that to be after the Paris Olympics in summer 2024.

It’s therefore entirely possible that the start date of ETIAS will be pushed back again to 2025.

Is this fair?

Ex US president Donald Trump seems to have only recently found out about ETIAS and is very angry about it.

This is a decision made by EU countries in respect of their borders, so it’s not within the control of the US government.

It certainly represents a change in travel to Europe for Americans, but the US has made similar demands of EU citizens since 2009. Anyone travelling to the US for a short holiday or trip from a European country must fill in the ESTA online visa waiver.

ESTA is in fact the system that the EU’s ETIAS was modelled on.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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