Visas for short stays

If they are "contemplating" this, all the procedures have not yet been imagined. They must also consider that the US will make the same requirements on their citizens visiting North America. Or this may be just a "shot across the bow" if the USA is "contemplating" this requirement for Europeans.
Once the politicians start mouthing off to win an election by spreading fears of terrorism, all sorts of foolish talk can be expected.

Just be sure you have a VISA credit card, preferably one with an embedded data chip and no foreign transaction fees! :-)

From what I've heard, the EU is contemplating some restrictions on the visa waiver program for U.S. citizens, mostly in response to restrictions the U.S. is now placing or has already placed on some EU citizens, as a matter of reciprocity.

Even in the unlikely event that you were required to get a visa for your trip, it shouldn't be too difficult to get one to most EU countries, provided you can prove that you can pay for your stay and will leave the EU on a certain date. I wasn't a U.S. citizen yet when I first traveled to Europe in 2010, and I easily got a Schengen visa from Germany within a week or two of mailing my documents to the German consulate.

Yea, it seems like this has been going on for a while and coming to a head now... they are talking about a Schengen though.

Ok, good to know

If they do this they will need to take care of a lot of legislation, paperwork, and logistics. I highly doubt it will happen in time for a trip in September. I actually don't think it will happen at all, but if it does I am very willing to bet there will be some sort of grace period. Something along the lines of an announcement in October (6 months from now) that any trip beginning after January 1 will require a visa. After all, if it goes into effect upon announcement, what about people who are arriving the next day?

I also think it will be a pretty easy to get visa. Basic paperwork, filled out online, or even one of the pay-at-the-airport deals. Not something intensive like for US citizens in Russia.

We will be smarter tomorrow. That's when it's supposed to be decided. But it's not going to happen. EU is not going to stab themselves because Romanians, Bulgarians and Polish need visa to visit Canada and USA. If anything then just Canadians would need visa. To require the same from Americans would require too much money (to lose) from EU. There is a precedent for it. When USA and Canada required visa from C.R. citizens, C.R. reciprocated with the requirement for visa but just from Canadians. US citizens could still come without visa.

I have just been looking up what that entails, looks like you have to apply in person and all the locations are in places like SF or DC, that'd really be terrible...

dag,

Don't be too concerned about it now. Your trip in Sept./Oct. should be fine.

Even if they decide tomorrow to implement Visas, it will take many months to set up the procedures and get an infrastructure in place. If they decide to implement Visas for Canadian and American citizens, I suspect they may structure it as an electronic Visa, similar to Australia, which can be arranged online.

As with many situations these days, it always comes down to "money" and I doubt they're going to "shoot themselves in the foot" (so to speak), by flushing a lot of tourist business down the tube.

If you have other questions, you may enjoy attending one of the monthly meetings of the RS Denver group. Check the "Travel Group Meetings" section of this forum for the date and time.

You are worrying about things you cannot control and are highly unlikely to happen. And if it did happen, it would be all over the news. And for goodness sakes, don't worry about logistics of where and how to apply for visas that don't even exist.

There was a long discussion of this here on the Italy thread:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/european-union-may-require-visas-for-american-and-canadian-visitors

I'll say here what I said there: This ain't gonna happen.

French and German and Belgian solidarity with Poland - and Bulgaria, Romania, etc. -- doesn't go far enough to include inflicting harm on their own important tourist industries, especially in the current security situation, which has already reduced the numbers of Americans going to visit.

Visas for long stays are still required, necessitating a trip to Los Angeles for those of us from Colorado wanting a long-term visa for France, for example, for I'll be VERY, VERY surprised if US/Canadian citizens will need anything other than a passport for entry to EU contries any time soon. Relax and enjoy the rest of your planning for your trip this fall, and then the trip itself!

I think most of us can relax. It's just saber rattling.

What none of the articles seem to mention is that the U.S. and the EU are about to sit down for new trade agreements and the EU is trying to make it easier for all of its nations to do business with the U.S. The EU wants uniformity for all of its countries so they make this threat. It's silly and most EU countries would be against it because it might hurt their tourism industry.

It would be a nightmare for everyone involved. Tens of thousands of people fly between North America and Europe every day. Could you imagine trying to process visas for all of them? Not going to happen.

This is the most recent info I've been able to find (at least in US news outlets):

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/world/europe/eu-visas-us-canada.html?_r=0

Apparently today's decision has been pushed back at least until July when it will be reconsidered after getting more input from the member states.

Nothing really new. If you remember 30 years ago, France did the same to US tourists entering France. I still have that passport and visa. In 1987 I flew from SFO to FRA, no visa, nothing required, not even a stamp on the passport even if you asked, then it depended upon how indulgent the controller was, went to England by landing at Harwich, went through passport control, got a stamp.

Upon entering France " they " wanted to see both your passport and the visa, without which entry was denied. When I told an exchange professor in Calif that difference between entering Germany, England and the French imposing the US visa at this point in time, she said that you do the same to us. True, admittedly I didn't know that. I got my visa at the French Consulate in SF.

In the old days it wasn't hard to get a visa, it just required sending your passport to get it stamped. The biggest thing was planning ahead for the mail time. I assume if you live close to the consulate, you can stop by and get your visa without mailing your passport out.

Hmm - if reciprocity is the goal, maybe certain states and provinces can start requiring vignettes on rental cars, and ZTL's can be set up in places. Imagine an unwary visitor to Santa Fe, NM who drove in the old town getting a ticket in the mail, months after they've retuned home, and a penalty processing bill from their rental car company. :-)

Colorado already seems to be taking the Bulgarian approach to potholes - not filling many of them! :-o

This doesn't really pertain to the topic but still it is a visa experience required of me as a tourist. In the Cold War days the CSSR (Czechslovakia) required a visa for western tourists, as did all the rest of the East bloc countries. I didn't plan the time correctly, ie sending for it in Wash, DC or New York, etc in 1973. My first week in Europe on the 1973 trip was spent in Paris, where I went to the Czech Embassy, waited two plus hours for the visa for my the trip to Prague, At the border crossing at Cheb en route from Nürnberg to Prague, the Czech authorities boarded the train to do the passport and visa control.

marginata,

The information you've provided certainly provides a lot more information about the situation. It's sounding more likely that some form of electronic authorization may be required from U.S. and Canadian citizens at some point in the future.

However, you mentioned "It's more about requiring EU visa from the same number of US and Canadian passport holders as there are EU citizens (Poles, Cypriots, Bulgarians and so on) required to obtain a visa to travel to the US/Canada." I wonder how they will decide which visitors will require the additional permit, and which ones won't? If it's just about the numbers, perhaps it will be random?

This is the Press Release of the European Commission issued on 12 April. In essence it is now referred to the European Parliament and Council for the next step with a deadline of 12 July.

Also clarifies that the UK and Ireland would not be bound by any suspension measure.

Have seen reports elsewhere that at present the affected countries are likely to vote against the trade deals unless this situation are resolved.