Europe Votes to Ban U.S. Travelers Without Visas

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

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Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

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Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

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If the European Parliament has its way, U.S. citizens will no longer be able to visit Europe with just a passport. The parliament has called for a requirement that U.S. citizens get visas to visit the European Union.

Will You Need a Visa to Visit Europe?

I can already hear John McEnroe’s signature “Are you serious?” cry from millions of potential visitors. And the answer is, “Sort of serious.” Actually, what the European Union is serious about is its internal requirement that all member nations receive equal treatment from outside countries, and the U.S. does not allow citizens of European Union members Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, and Romania to enter the U.S. through its visa waiver program.

Clear heads are predicting that the European Union will back down on the request or at least kick it down the road for an indefinite period. After all, the last thing Europeans want, including those in the five excluded countries, is to interfere with what is projected to be the biggest year ever for U.S. tourists to Europe.

But that’s not a sure thing. And given the current state of things here, I wouldn’t bet that the U.S. will decide to change its policies regarding those eastern countries.

Net take-away: Chances are less than 50-50 that you’ll need a visa for any upcoming summer trips to Europe. Much less. But they’re not zero, either. Stranger things have happened.

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