Flying to Paris or Berlin? U.S. Citizens Will Soon Need EU Permits

  • State Department cites EU decision to begin screening in 2021
  • About 60 percent head to continental Europe’s big four nations

Border passport control at Orly airport, near Paris. 

Photographer: Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty images

U.S. citizens will need permits to travel to the European Union starting in 2021 and they’re being urged to get ready.

Buying the three-year authorization for a planned 7-euro ($7.90) fee will be “super quick and easy” and will allow Americans to travel freely throughout 26 European countries, though it doesn’t include the U.K. and Ireland, according to etiasvisa.com, a Madrid-based travel site. Reacting to news reports based on the site, the U.S. State Department cautioned that the EU isn’t requiring visas.