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nomadjoanne ,

No. They’ll need to fill out a form online before they go. Europe is only requiring this because the US has forced similar bullshit on Europeans for years cos “terrorism”.

ELI70 ,

All the security theater around borders and flights needs to end. Open all boarders and make boarding a plane as simple as boarding a train. Also remove Karma from all of lemmy!

nomadjoanne ,

Also, Carthage must be destroyed!

ELI70 ,

Also, Carthage must be destroyed!

Same goes for rome!

itchy_lizard ,

That’s what’s called a visa.

Even today you need a visa. You get that visa on arrival.

TheControlled ,

What a pain in the ass.

willow ,
@willow@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

The visa, which will cost about $8, is similar to the one that European tourists are required to get when traveling to the U.S., which costs $21.

A very typical tit-for-tat.

ELI70 ,

So Europe is better value than US? $8 vs $21?

favrion ,
@favrion@lemmy.ml avatar

Good. They should keep us out entirely if we haven’t had a mental health exam, a cultural knowledge test, and learned the language.

sagrotan ,
@sagrotan@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, that scratches the inflated image of the US citizens. But why…idk

FailBait ,

Saw people freaking out on FB about this and how “I guess Europe doesn’t want tourism!” I don’t think $8 is going to be a barrier for entry on a $1000 flight…

local_taxi_fix ,

Also people saying “Europe is charging Americans a fee to enter” when really they’re charging all non-Europeans. Typical American conservative self-victimization.

twitterfluechtling ,
@twitterfluechtling@lemmy.pathoris.de avatar
  1. It’s not a visa but an ESTA. The visa is still granted on the fly on entry.
  2. The U.S. require the same the other way around, only the one granted by the EU is $10 cheaper and valid for 3 years instead of 2, so still U.S. citizens get an advantage
  3. EU citizens (like all other non-immigrants) have to, as far as I understand, disclose all their social media accounts when applying for a US visa

Sources for (3):

For VISA applications, …state.gov/…/CA - FAQs on Social Media Collection… should apply.

What if applicants participate in multiple online platforms? Are they being asked to list all of their handles, or only one?

Applicants must provide all identifiers used for all listed platforms.

I reached that document via www.ustraveldocs.com/de/de-gen-faq.asp#qlistgen21 (“Apply for a U.S. Visa in Germany”) and didn’t find any hint for exemptions for German citizens or E U citizens, so I assume it applies. (But I might still be wrong.)

yaycupcake ,
@yaycupcake@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Genuine question, how the heck do people who have a ton of social media accounts (some for a business, some for different topics, some they haven’t used in ages and maybe forgot about or lost the login for) actually list them all? If it were me, depending on the platforms required, I don’t even know where I’d begin. I very well might genuinely forget one I made 3 years ago, used for a month, and abandoned.

krolden ,

Does my pornhub account qualify as social media?

Daze ,

Depends on what you’re watching, I guess. Imo, gangbang should count as social media while masturbation probably doesn’t.

Syldon ,
@Syldon@feddit.uk avatar

Simply wow, this one is new to me. Guess I would never go to the US again.

pineapplelover ,

What if I don’t disclose my social media accounts? How are they going to know? It feels like to me like more surveillance they’re attempting to do.

twitterfluechtling ,
@twitterfluechtling@lemmy.pathoris.de avatar

⁸I don’t know what data they have at hand to work with, the following is mainly guesswork / how I would do it:

As far as I know, US authorities have quite liberal access to data stored by US companies (due to the cloud act even if the data isn’t originally stored in the US), especially in case the data is about non-citizens where some of their protection laws don’t hold. Most social media accounts are tied to phone numbers and/or email addresses.

If I was in their place, I’d have a relatively small database with all (or at least all non-US) phone numbers used for social media accounts, with the email addresses tied to those accounts. If a visa-applicant applies and I get their phone number (email address),

  1. I’d query a list of all accounts for that number (email) to get the associated emails (numbers).
  2. With those new emails (numbers) I’d repeat step 1

If you call the office or enter your number in your application, they might get some accounts. If you associated an email address to that account, they might get additional different accounts by that email. If those different accounts have a different phone number associated to them, they use that new phone number to get more accounts. rinse, repeat.

[Edit: This process would be completely automated, of course. Not manual.]

The consequence of being caught lying might be to get your visa revoked / denied once you are already in the US at the airport, which would be highly inconvenient. Or, if they get suspicious, find something else, and get annoyed, maybe it could even be punished? I don’t know.

You could maintain a separate phone with a separate phone number and separate email addresses for accounts you want to keep secret. Or maybe get a fresh phone number / email address just for the trip. But that’s quite a bit of effort to maintain consistently.

pineapplelover ,

I already use separate identifiers for personal and government documentation. Other people probably also have multiple numbers and emails too, it’s not like they’re going to check. It feels like a massive waste of resources.

ukuku ,

*Everyone from a visa free country will need an electronic authorization, not just US-Americans

PatFussy ,

So leave Nato when?

FartsWithAnAccent ,
@FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world avatar

TIL: Americans didn’t need a visa before

varzaman ,

Still don’t. This isn’t a VISA.

traveler01 ,

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…

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

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.

traveler01 ,

That’s quite bullshit honestly. As far as I know if I wanted to go to US I’d need a VISA.

Overzeetop ,
@Overzeetop@kbin.social avatar

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.

can ,

Not if you’re Canadian

punkwalrus ,
@punkwalrus@lemmy.world avatar

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.”

Damage ,

Why does it surprise you? It’s the same for many countries

redcalcium ,

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.

MossyFeathers ,

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?

burningmatches ,

The most powerful passports in the world in 2023

  1. Japan (193 destinations)
  2. Singapore, South Korea (192 destinations)
  3. Germany, Spain (190 destinations)
  4. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189 destinations)
  5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188 destinations)
  6. France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187 destinations)
  7. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Czech Republic (186 destinations)
  8. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta (185 destinations)
  9. Hungary, Poland (184 destinations)
  10. Lithuania, Slovakia (183 destinations)

weforum.org/…/world-s-most-powerful-passports/

rikudou ,

Outdated, Japan has 189 and Czechia 187. Possibly other changes as well.

Ysellian ,

but an EU passport will get you basically anywhere you want to go. Was I wrong about that?

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.

Karyoplasma ,

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.

MossyFeathers ,

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!

Karyoplasma ,

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.

rikudou ,

Well, it’s China, a country known for its heavy surveillance. They’re not gonna let anyone in just like that.

Karyoplasma , (edited )

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:

https://discuss.tchncs.de/pictrs/image/1c873878-4422-4a67-ba22-9e56248374b0.jpeg

Translation: Welcome to China! Here, you can receive calls for 1.59€ per minute + possibly at least 0.50€ per minute (depending on carrier), 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.

Obi ,
@Obi@sopuli.xyz avatar

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.

bdonvr ,

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

traveler01 ,

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.

tristar ,

“A bit” is an understatement, that title is complete clickbait garbage

socsa ,

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.

automaton ,

The airline might require this travel authorization at check-in, though.

bob_wiley ,
@bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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.

socsa ,

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.

Ecology8622 ,

I’m guessing because of migration. More USA citizens want to leave the US and overstay in the EU. This way its a bit more tedious and easier to track.

OsrsNeedsF2P ,

While I know some people who have emigrated from the US, most people just whine without any backbone

Zorque ,

Can confirm, am noodle-boi

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

It's just part of a larger expansion of a program that simply happens to include Americans. I really don't think they care about us that much; we're not that special.

krische ,

Seems like it’s more so covering the costs of doing automated background checks or something like that. Like making sure you aren’t on any bad lists so they can prevent you from arriving instead of having to deal with you when you’re already there.

It’s not technically a visa, Americans are still granted that upon arrival it seems.

JCPhoenix ,
@JCPhoenix@beehaw.org avatar

No, it’s a diplomatic tit-for-tat. Even though the EU and US have visa-free travel, the US imposed the ESTA on travelers from the EU (and elsewhere I’m assuming) some years ago. It’s a not a traditional visa, it’s a “Travel Authorization.” And it costs money to apply for one. It’s not expensive, nor hard to get, and it lasts a few years, I think, but from the EU perspective, why should their citizens have to pay for an ESTA to the US, while US citizens can travel to the EU for free? So the EU is finally retaliating by leveling the playing field and imposing an ESTA on American travelers.

eusousuperior ,

Well we’ve been paying the ESTA electronic visa for years now every time we’ve wanted to visit the US. It’s fair game to require the same

MariaRomanov ,
@MariaRomanov@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Damn! Anyway…

Ooops ,
@Ooops@feddit.de avatar

Because “including Spain, France and Greece” is a rather lacking description for 30 European countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

driving_crooner ,
@driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br avatar

Maybe they’re selected because they’re the most popular destinations? (Nor sure if that true, but it would make sense)

iegod ,

I feel bad for brevity in the presence of such criticism.

driving_crooner ,
@driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br avatar

Im sorry, English is not my first language and don’t understand what you mean, could you explain me?

Caithe ,

It’s okay, I’m a native English speaker and don’t understand what they’re saying.

PatrickYaa ,

Thos article is about the EU, not sure what Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein am Norway do in that list…

emergencyfood ,

The Schengen area (which has common visa rules) is not the same as the EU. Those four countries are part of the Schengen agreement even though they are not in the EU. Conversely, Ireland is not included because although it is an EU member, it is not in the Schengen zone.

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