this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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I’m confused, didn’t Americans need a VISA to visit European countries? They just jump into a plain and fly here with their passport and no questions asked?
If it’s like this I had no idea…
Yep. It's still the case, the title really isn't right.
Americans still get an automatic visa on arrival, they just have to fill out a form online for $8 first
Europeans do much the same coming to the US with ESTA
I bet they will still give you the visa if you don't fill out the form. They might make you fill it out in the airport on your phone or something though.
The airline might require this travel authorization at check-in, though.
Ah so it’s the same already as here. I know I’d have to pay to fill a form online and pay a sum to go to the US. The title is a bit misleading.
"A bit" is an understatement, that title is complete clickbait garbage
Americans can go almost anywhere at moment notice with just their golden passport. Meanwhile people from many country has to submit countless documentations and bank accounts data for US visa only to get denied three months later.
I'm scratching my head at this comment because I thought EU passports were more powerful at this point. I thought the US has pissed off enough countries that there are many you can't enter as a US citizen (admittedly mostly in the middle east, to countries I doubt most European citizens want to go either), but an EU passport will get you basically anywhere you want to go. Was I wrong about that?
The most powerful passports in the world in 2023
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/world-s-most-powerful-passports/
Outdated, Japan has 189 and Czechia 187. Possibly other changes as well.
Depends on the country within the EU. Germans can go hassle free pretty much anywhere . Bulgarians on the other hand are going to struggle a fair bit more than an American.
German here. I had to go through a 3-month process with multiple, personal visits to the Chinese embassy in Frankfurt to be allowed one-time entry to China for a couple of days. Visa fee was 120€, IIRC.
Well, it's China, a country known for its heavy surveillance. They're not gonna let anyone in just like that.
Yeah. I heard I even got preferential treatment because I got invited by my cousin's wife's family to attend the wedding.
Also the roaming fees were insane. I still have the pricing information message:
Translation: Welcome to China! Here, you can receive calls for 1.59€ per minute + possibly at least 0.50€ per minute (depending on carrier fees), send text messages for 0.59€ and receive text for free. Data roaming for 12.29€ PER MEGABYTE (automatically capped at 59.50€ per month) may be possible. Good travels wishes o2.
This means they estimated that 60€ was the cutoff before people that rack up MBs without thinking about roaming fees start seriously complaining when seeing the bill.
Huh, according to another reply, German passports are supposed to be more powerful than a US passport. Maybe that's not taking into account visa requirements though. No idea if a US passport would have the same issue with China either. Thanks for sharing your experience!
China probably isn't on the list for visa-on-arrival for any country. Whether the process and the attached fees differ according to where your passport is from, I don't know. I assume that is the case tho.
Why does it surprise you? It's the same for many countries
Yep. In the last two years, I've been to Italy and the UK, and each time, it was quite literally just show up to the airport with my passport, get it scanned upon arrival, and that was that.
Sweden was the same way, I didn't need a Visa. I hadn't traveled in a while (2006), and I was surprised I got stamped to enter the EU in my layover in Iceland (2022) last year. Now I gotta worry about this, because I plan on visiting my folks in Sweden every few years. It doesn't seem that bad, and I have zero reason to think I'd be rejected, but it's yet another hassle even if it's only $8 (but that's fair if we're charging Europeans $21, I'd even pay $21 without complaintif it changes to match).
OMG, though... those poor Brexit bastards traveling through Iceland. Me from the US was just "stand in line, they ask why you're traveling, stamp the passport and you're on your way." Brexit folks had to go down some spiral stairs into some cave next to the elevator shaft and it looked like the passport equivalent of "the cheap stadium seats."
That’s quite bullshit honestly. As far as I know if I wanted to go to US I’d need a VISA.
America is only tied for ~~eighth~~ ninth in passport strength, thanks to Singapore taking the top spot from Japan. There are 40 countries which have the same privilege coming into the US (called the Visa Waiver Program here). Of course, the US has had an ETA for quite a while, so this is a tit for tat.
Not if you're Canadian
I’ve been to a few places in the EU, Japan, and India. I needed some stuff for India, but for the EU and Japan I just got on a plane and showed up.
This is literally how it is. There is no paperwork to fill out, you just show the man in Amsterdam your passport, he asks if you are here for work or pleasure, and then you wink at him and say "plaisir monsieur" and then he rolls his eyes and gives you a stamp which is good for 3 months.