Also at the Zittau crossing—but on an outbound coach heading to Poland—Federal Police on 21 September identified a Georgian national who lacked any German residence entitlement and, crucially, was wanted on an open penal order for an earlier immigration offence. Officers served the outstanding fine on the spot and initiated removal proceedings. The ability to serve court documents at the border has been strengthened by a June 2026 amendment to the Federal Police Act, which allows digital access to state judicial databases during mobile checks. As a result, travellers with unresolved fines or deportation costs increasingly find themselves blocked at the frontier—even when leaving the country. For global-mobility teams this is a wake-up call: employees who have ever breached visa conditions in Germany should settle fines before attempting any cross-border business trip, even if the journey is merely an overnight bus to Warsaw or a weekend shopping run. Lawyers note that paying the fine immediately can sometimes avert an entry ban, but failure to do so may trigger a SIS alert that bars the individual from the entire Schengen Area for up to five years.
