It is only the same as Europeans have had to do for years to visit the US. You can't have it both ways.

Doesn't seem terribly onerous. American visa policy is based on reciprocity, however, so we might see an end to the visa waiver program and the institution of a B1/B2 visa fee equal to that ETIAS will charge Americans.

Didn't this come out in 2017?

We already have ESTA which costs about the same as ETIAS will. ETIAS is there for Americans because of ESTA. Like i said you can't have it both ways - you visit here for free but we have to pay to visit the US.

$14 for ESTA, valid for two years, under 18 too, €7 for Etias, valid for three years, under 18s free. You still get a good deal.

I wonder if dual nationals like my son - born in France to an American father - has both passports but is a resident currently of the U.S. - will they need a visa - think not but not sure?

>>>I wonder if dual nationals like my son - born in France to an American father - has both passports but is a resident currently of the U.S. - will they need a visa - think not but not sure?<<<

No. Theyare supposed to travel to Europe on the European passport, and return to the US on the US passport.

I hadn't heard of this, thanks for the heads up. The conditions are really rigorous-- you have to have a passport, a credit card and an email address. Yikes. what to do.

I remember the days when I had to actually go to a consulate to get a visa to visit France, so this is nothing to me.

The biggest danger is just people not knowing.

A US citizen needed a visa to visit France? That must have been a looong time ago.

Where do we have to go to get this new visa, if we are US citizens?

I think I will wait until it absolutely does happen.

>>>A US citizen needed a visa to visit France?<<<

Late Eighties. Created quite a headache for the consular staff in London.

When one door closes, another opens. Anyone for Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia to offer visa-free access to overseas visitors - Al Arabiya English

Maybe North Korea will be next.

In 1986, Americans needed a Visa for France.

Someone planted a bomb in a topiary on the Champs Ellysee in September, 1986, hence the Visa law.

My mother and I were taken off the TGV at Vallorbe because I did not have a Visa to enter France. I did not need one when we left the US.

Thin

I remember the French Visa for Americans too. The lines for the French Visa were quite long at the embassy in London.

It's lucky anyone got a visa as alot of countries do not allow or additional documentation is needed for visa applications outside their own country of residence. Wouldn't advise leaving it until getting to the UK to start applying for a French visa nowadays.

The only French visa I ever applied for was a student visa in the early sixties for which I received a receipt of payment and stayed in France for 15 months without ever receiving the visa itself. I also traveled in Germany and Switzerland without a visa, and I do not remember if I had to purchase a transit visa for train travel to Berlin and car travel out of Berlin. In 1967 I drove throughout western Europe and Yugoslavia without a visa. I had to purchase East German plates to ;get in and out of Berlin (they did not accept the tax exempt international plates), which can be considered purchasing a transit visa.

I believe that I essentially had a travel visa for a specified number of days when I drove in Czechoslovakia in 1975. It was obtained at the border and I had to buy x-number of Kroner for every day that I stayed. I remember this clearly because we tried to cross from Slovakia to Hungary at a border crossing that was only for locals, which made me lose a day and I had to spend an extra day in the country to apply for an extension at the nearest prefecture. No visa needed for Hungary as far as I remember.

All this to say that as an American I do not recall any visa application for travel as a tourist in Western Europe. My parents spent 15 years in France as apatrides, which meant applying for travel permits whenever they wanted to see family in Germany and Switzerland post W.W.II. My parents applied for American citizenship as soon as they could not out of patriotism but for the convenience of the American passport--no more visa applications to this or that country within Western Europe, starting in 1960 for them.

The 1986 visa requirement sounds very weird, especially as it was imposed after a legal non-visa entry to the country.