WilcoRoger

By the same logic Ryanair is not Irish, right?

hfly

No, not at all, but I would not say, "Ryanair is doing well, thank you very much, with 371 aircraft in operation and a further 193 on order." and try to imply that any more than maybe 6% of those aircraft have anything to do with flying people to Ireland...........as you implied that they did to Hungary.

No, actually I would be surprised if when push comes to shove if many of the 23 EU countries that HAVE VWP will come in behind this. I can see this being another nail in teh coffin of the EU especially in the crazy season that we have going on right now with politics.......no leader of France, Germany, Italy, or even Greece that was extremely late to the VWP party and is constantly worried that they'll get bounced, is going to support this.

When the French played their visa games back in the late 80's (incidentally in a supposed response to Accion Direct and Abu Nidal terrorism) they were NOT first in line for VWP, they had to wait a year and a half to get admitted. French people neither want to need visas to the US, nor do they want to even have the threat of a hint to their tourism industry.

TWA884

The subject of this discussion had to do with the possibility that the EU require Canadian and US citizens to obtain visas.

This has nothing to do with the methods used to calculate the number of tourists who visit Hungary or the ownership of Wizz Air or Ryanair.

Please get back on topic.

Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

hfly

Of course.

The Canadians have said that they will be making the aforesaid countries visa free by the end of the year, so there is no tit-for-tat danger of their EU visa free status being disrupted.

limelitelady

My family is planning a trip to Great Britain in July, 2017, and we're in a quandary about visas. If we wait til June 15 deadline and DO need visas, there may not be enough time to get them for everyone who is going (about 10 people, already have reservations for stay of 3 weeks over there, no plane tickets yet). Some people have said the UK may not require visas even if EU threat goes through. but can we bank on that?

I don't mind getting a visa to go to UK, but with 10 of my family planning a 3 week trip in July, that would mean over $1000 in visa fees plus the aggravation (I was once denied a visa to stay just over 6 months in England, after sending every documentation required-- financial, home ownership, etc-- because " they couldn't see that I might not STAY over there". It took over 5 months and several more applications (and $400+ fees for each one), a special overnight trip to NYC and a special courier to the British Embassy who got the visa and my passport back to me just in time for me to make my plane! If you multiply that by 10 people. . . We don't know what to do. . .if we don't apply now, and EU carries it through on June 15, we won't have time to get visas. If we do go through the whole application process for a visa, and then UK denies it because we don't need visas, we'll have wasted all that time and money for nothing.

GUWonder

The U.K. wont have additional visa requirements in place for US passport users this summer. Not even this year. Perhaps not even for years.

hfly

Furthermore as the UK is NOT a Schengen country, there is not even a question of you needing such Visa, nor is it even a subject of conversation.

limelitelady

GUwonder and hfly, thank you for replying. I certainly hope you are right; I'm inclined to forego applying for visas to UK and hope for the best!

cafeconleche

The UK has its own visa regime anyway, so the EP vote is meant to affect the Schengen zone, if it ever does. I wouldn't worry about the UK.

danielonn

Here is my theory if you have Global Entry you should be exempt from getting a Visa. All you would do is enter your Global Entry Number on the Airline Website and you would be allowed in.

Now I can see for passengers who are not GE approved paying a Visa fee. The same could go for EU citizens. Enroll in GE and you don't need an ESTA(valid for 10 years) but nee to reapply for GE every 5 years(unless they want to extend GE for 10 years) as you would be vetted. The 5 countries on the list America could say if you want to come to the USA we suggest applying for a Trusted Traveler Program abroad(and get interviewed at the local US Embassy) and you don't need ESTA.

GE should be like ESTA with the comprehensive background check why do I need an additional Visa? Europe could link to GE and we could link to the European Trusted Traveler Program where we can vet those passengers.

Another idea is to offer the Visa as part of your airline ticket cost you would automatically be taken to the website to apply and all of your Passport Information that is already shared with the local government is used for the Visa. So the fee would be taken as part of your airline ticket and you ca apply up to 1 hour before departure(to allow for last minute emergencies).

Those with a Trusted Traveler Program only needs to enter their Number and the fee that the airline charged would be waived.

Airlines could go for this as it would cost them $$$ to send a passenger back if they did not meet the entry requirements.

This way the Government knows you are purchasing a ticket. And also have the option for a MUlti-Entry Visa valid for 10 years like ESTA.

Why is it that Europeans only need to get an ESTA online valid for 10 years but Americans need to send their Visa to the embassy? In order for this to work the Schengen needs to offer an ESTA valid for 10 years with multiple enteries and also both America and Europe could look at extending the maximum stay time from 3 months -4 or 5 months etc. If you need additional time you report to the Embassy and pay $100 for an extension pending approval.

What are your thoughts?

:D!

Why should the EU / the Schengen area automatically trust someone because the US trusts them?

Well, the US and European governments are already notified about all passengers, but I don't see why it should be made easier for them to know that someone is buying a flight ticket.

Maluku_Flyer

ESTA is only valid for two years.

seawolf

^

this issue is not about trust. This is a tit-for-tat as US not willing to extend VWP for some Schengen countries and Europeans crying foul.

hfly

You mean some of the same countries that the main bulk of EU countries kept out of full Schengen integration until quite recently??

TWA884

In The New York Times: