What do France’s new Schengen border checks mean for travellers?

Whether you’re living in France or just visiting, here’s what France’s decision to reintroduce Schengen border checks means for you.

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France has formally notified the European Commission that it intends to reintroduce checks at its Schengen zone borders, starting on November 1st and running until April 1st, 2025.
Here’s what this means for visitors to France, and French residents who want to travel.
Where?
There are six borders affected by this announcement; those with Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.
Anyone entering France from a non-Schengen zone country (eg the UK or the USA) will see no difference, since passport and customs checks are already carried out on travellers arriving from outside the Schengen zone. The changes will make no difference to passport stamping for non-EU nationals, or to the 90-day rule.
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Anyone taking a flight to France from a Schengen zone country other than the six listed above – for example a flight from Stockholm to Paris – will see no change.
What is changing?
At present most people crossing a Schengen zone border face no checks, and in fact they may not even realise that they have crossed into another country – this is because since the creation of the Schengen zone in 1995, travellers can move freely within the zone without passport or ID checks.
Countries can, however, impose sporadic checks or generalised checks for a specific time period if they feel there is a need. During the Covid pandemic many countries imposed checks to ensure that health regulations were being followed, while short-term checks in the wake of a terror attack are common.
However since 2011 several countries have imposed checks on a specific border due to fears of irregular migration and in September Germany announced that it was reintroducing checks on all its Schengen zone borders due to worries over “terrorism and irregular mass migration”.

The EU says that its members can reimpose checks as a short term measure if they want to, but must justify the decision and must inform the European Commission of their intention.
As with Germany, France cited both terrorism and migration as its reason, reporting “serious threats to public order and domestic security posed by high-level terrorist activities, the growing presence of criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and trafficking, and migratory flows that risk being infiltrated by radicalised individuals.” 
So what does this mean for travellers?
The checks affect land, sea and air travel between France and the six countries named, but the German model suggests that people crossing the border by car or bus will be the main target.
In Germany, police have stepped up checks at land borders and although not every vehicle has been checked, there have still been reports of traffic jams at the border as vehicles queue to be checked.
Anyone making a land crossing between France and Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium is therefore advised to allow extra time. This is also the case with the crossing between France and Germany, where drivers now ace the possibility of double checks from both the French and the German side.
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This is likely to be a particular problem for frontaliers – people who commute across the border to work – and France has a large number of residents who commute to work in Switzerland or Luxembourg. The prime minister of Luxembourg has raised concerns about possible delays for cross-border workers.
It’s thought that there will be fewer delays for air or sea passengers.
Do I need extra travel documents?
The extra checks don’t actually change the rules for crossing a Schengen zone border. However, because the checks have until now been very light touch (or non existent), the rules are often forgotten.
In order to cross a Schengen zone border, you should have with you either a French ID card, an ID card issued by another EU country, or a passport. Other French documents like a carte de séjour or a driving licence are not travel documents and will not be accepted.
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Non-EU citizens will therefore need a passport to travel, unless they have dual nationality with an EU country.
Non-EU citizens who are resident in France should show both their passport and carte de séjour at the border.
Explained: The rules for Schengen zone travel for French residents
All other Schengen zone travel rules – for example the situation for dual nationals or which passport queue to use, remain unchanged.
Will this affect EES?
The EU’s new biometric passport control system known as EES (Entry Exit System) is due to come into effect in early 2025 (after repeated delays) and brings in extra requirements for travellers such as fingerprints and facial scans – find the full details here.
However EES applies only at the EU/Schengen zone’s external borders, and does not affect travel within the Schengen zone.
France’s new checks, on the other hand, affect only travel within the Schengen zone.
The two changes will therefore have no effect on each other.
Why is this changing now?
The French government says that it is in response to the joint threat or terrorism and irregular migration, the same justification provided by Germany.
Information about specific terrorist threats is, of necessity, secret so it’s difficult to judge whether the risk is any greater now than in previous years. Certainly since the terror attacks of 2015 France has regularly been placed on the highest level of terror threat, without changing its Schengen border protocols.
As for irregular migration, there is no particular evidence that a threat has worsened in recent months.
What has changed in France, however, is a new government – headed up by right-winger Michel Barnier who appointed the very right-wing Bruno Retailleau as his interior minister. It may be, therefore, that the change is political, rather than security based.
Numerous commentators in Germany have pointed to the success of the far-right in recent local elections as the catalyst for Germany’s change in policy.
Do you have questions about what new Schengen zone checks will mean for you? Please leave them in the comments section below and we will do our best to answer them

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#Travel news
#Brits in france
#Americans in France

Comments (1)

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Arlette Cascella

2024/10/23 01:39

Sounds security based to me. The only thing political about it was….getting it done. :)..

See Also

France has formally notified the European Commission that it intends to reintroduce checks at its Schengen zone borders, starting on November 1st and running until April 1st, 2025.
Here’s what this means for visitors to France, and French residents who want to travel.
Where?
There are six borders affected by this announcement; those with Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.
Anyone entering France from a non-Schengen zone country (eg the UK or the USA) will see no difference, since passport and customs checks are already carried out on travellers arriving from outside the Schengen zone. The changes will make no difference to passport stamping for non-EU nationals, or to the 90-day rule.
Anyone taking a flight to France from a Schengen zone country other than the six listed above – for example a flight from Stockholm to Paris – will see no change.
What is changing?
At present most people crossing a Schengen zone border face no checks, and in fact they may not even realise that they have crossed into another country – this is because since the creation of the Schengen zone in 1995, travellers can move freely within the zone without passport or ID checks.
Countries can, however, impose sporadic checks or generalised checks for a specific time period if they feel there is a need. During the Covid pandemic many countries imposed checks to ensure that health regulations were being followed, while short-term checks in the wake of a terror attack are common.
However since 2011 several countries have imposed checks on a specific border due to fears of irregular migration and in September Germany announced that it was reintroducing checks on all its Schengen zone borders due to worries over “terrorism and irregular mass migration”.
The EU says that its members can reimpose checks as a short term measure if they want to, but must justify the decision and must inform the European Commission of their intention.
As with Germany, France cited both terrorism and migration as its reason, reporting “serious threats to public order and domestic security posed by high-level terrorist activities, the growing presence of criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and trafficking, and migratory flows that risk being infiltrated by radicalised individuals.” 
So what does this mean for travellers?
The checks affect land, sea and air travel between France and the six countries named, but the German model suggests that people crossing the border by car or bus will be the main target.
In Germany, police have stepped up checks at land borders and although not every vehicle has been checked, there have still been reports of traffic jams at the border as vehicles queue to be checked.
Anyone making a land crossing between France and Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium is therefore advised to allow extra time. This is also the case with the crossing between France and Germany, where drivers now ace the possibility of double checks from both the French and the German side.
This is likely to be a particular problem for frontaliers – people who commute across the border to work – and France has a large number of residents who commute to work in Switzerland or Luxembourg. The prime minister of Luxembourg has raised concerns about possible delays for cross-border workers.
It’s thought that there will be fewer delays for air or sea passengers.
Do I need extra travel documents?
The extra checks don’t actually change the rules for crossing a Schengen zone border. However, because the checks have until now been very light touch (or non existent), the rules are often forgotten.
In order to cross a Schengen zone border, you should have with you either a French ID card, an ID card issued by another EU country, or a passport. Other French documents like a carte de séjour or a driving licence are not travel documents and will not be accepted.
Non-EU citizens will therefore need a passport to travel, unless they have dual nationality with an EU country.
Non-EU citizens who are resident in France should show both their passport and carte de séjour at the border.
Explained: The rules for Schengen zone travel for French residents
All other Schengen zone travel rules – for example the situation for dual nationals or which passport queue to use, remain unchanged.
Will this affect EES?
The EU’s new biometric passport control system known as EES (Entry Exit System) is due to come into effect in early 2025 (after repeated delays) and brings in extra requirements for travellers such as fingerprints and facial scans – find the full details here.
However EES applies only at the EU/Schengen zone’s external borders, and does not affect travel within the Schengen zone.
France’s new checks, on the other hand, affect only travel within the Schengen zone.
The two changes will therefore have no effect on each other.
Why is this changing now?
The French government says that it is in response to the joint threat or terrorism and irregular migration, the same justification provided by Germany.
Information about specific terrorist threats is, of necessity, secret so it’s difficult to judge whether the risk is any greater now than in previous years. Certainly since the terror attacks of 2015 France has regularly been placed on the highest level of terror threat, without changing its Schengen border protocols.
As for irregular migration, there is no particular evidence that a threat has worsened in recent months.
What has changed in France, however, is a new government – headed up by right-winger Michel Barnier who appointed the very right-wing Bruno Retailleau as his interior minister. It may be, therefore, that the change is political, rather than security based.
Numerous commentators in Germany have pointed to the success of the far-right in recent local elections as the catalyst for Germany’s change in policy.
Do you have questions about what new Schengen zone checks will mean for you? Please leave them in the comments section below and we will do our best to answer them