We are going to visit our family located on an U.S. army airforce base in Germany and take them with us to Italy. They have passports, but are telling us that they can not do any stopovers in Switzerland, Austria or France because they do not have permission to be in those countries. They flight we want to book to Florence Italy makes one stop in France but we are not leaving the airport, we will just be getting on another flight. I am not sure taking a train will work either... Help...We wanted a nice family trip with my step daughter and two grandkids.... Any suggestions? This seems a little strange to me. They have been living in Germany now for almost two years...
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
The travel restrictions are placed on US service personnel based in Europe, and usually they have to apply well in advanced for permission to travel to areas outside their limit of free movement. In effect, permission is usually granted, but they have to apply in a timely manner. In-transit stop-offs are usually considered part of the trip, and the usual restrictions don't apply as long as they don't leave the airport. Its probably best, though, if they clarify their restrictions with their unit.
These restrictions are relics of the pre-Schengen Cold War and were designed to ensure that US service personell were not trapped in the wrong country in case of an emergency (ie, Warsaw Pact invasion). They don't make sense today when crossing a national border is as easy as crossing the street, but anyone who has ever worked for the US government knows how long it takes to change an outdated rule!