Germany will maintain visa-free short-stay access for citizens of 62 non-EU and non-Schengen countries throughout 2026, the Federal Foreign Office has confirmed. The refreshed list—published over the weekend and highlighted by Gulf News—covers major business partners such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, as well as fast-growing markets including Brazil and India’s Western-Balkan neighbours. Nationals of the listed states may visit Germany for tourism, family reasons or business meetings for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without applying for a Schengen C-visa. Work or long-term stays still require the appropriate national visa or residence permit. The update comes as the EU again delays the launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES) to late-2026 and pushes mandatory ETIAS travel authorisations to April 2027. Mobility managers should therefore expect the current passport-stamping regime to continue through next summer, though airlines will begin field-testing EES biometric kiosks from October as part of an “optional transition phase”. Business impact: companies recruiting talent from visa-waiver countries can continue to bring candidates in for interviews or onboarding on short notice, provided the 90/180-day rule is monitored. HR should remind staff that days spent elsewhere in the Schengen Area count toward the same limit. Frequent travellers may benefit from renewed push by border police to automate exit scanning to avoid overstay penalties. For travellers from non-waiver nations, German missions worldwide are gradually rolling out the Consular Services Portal for online submissions, but demand still outstrips appointment slots in key markets—corporate planners should build in eight to twelve weeks for national-visa lead time.
Source: Gulf News
