"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.)
I 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.
I 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.
So 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...) with 256 HN comments from 2019 at 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? :)
After 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.)
Will US citizens also be required to answer stupid questions like if they're planning to do terrorism in the EU?
EU 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.
It’s just the same as EU citizens getting and ESTA to travel to (or transit) the US
These papers (edit: US and EU versions) weren’t needed before but are going to be needed soon. Going backwards. And no one cares.
The 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.
First 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.
Europe the continent or the EU? Does this include the UK?
Meanwhile 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.
The 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.