Schengen border checks extended: Germany, France, Poland

Seven Schengen states are still checking passports at internal borders, and on 22 October 2026 France extended its controls to 30 April 2027. Here is where checks happen, what to carry and what it means for visas, residence permits and relocation.

The Schengen area was designed as a Europe without passport checks. In November 2026, passports will be checked at internal borders in seven countries at once: France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, while Italy checks arrivals from Slovenia. On 22 October 2026, France formally notified the European Commission that it is extending controls at all its internal borders from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. For France this is less news than habit: checks there have run without a break since November 2015, now into their eleventh year.

Below: where exactly checks take place, who they affect, which documents to carry, and whether any of this touches visas, residence permits and relocation plans.

What France decided

The notification appears on the European Commission's official page on the temporary reintroduction of border control. France is extending checks at its land, air and sea borders with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. The current period ends on 31 October 2026; the new one runs to 30 April 2027.

The reasons come as a long list: terrorist threat, a rise in antisemitic attacks, smuggling networks moving migrants towards the Channel, clashes among migrants in the northern Pas-de-Calais department, and general global instability. The Paris Peace Forum on 10-11 November 2026 gets its own line. In the previous notification that slot went to the G7 summit in Evian: France never seems to run short of reasons.

Where else Schengen checks passports

France is not alone. According to the Commission's official list, the picture for late 2026 looks like this:

The busiest point on this map is the German-Polish border. Germany has checked all its land borders since September 2024, and Poland responded in July 2025 by checking arrivals from Germany and Lithuania. The same river Oder is now guarded from both banks, and drivers between Frankfurt (Oder) and Slubice have relearned the word queue.

What it looks like in practice

Internal controls are not the same as a real external border. There is no booth checking every passport. Police stop cars, coaches and trains selectively, check passengers on flights within Schengen and may ask for documents anywhere in the border zone.

• Carry a passport or ID card at all times. Even if you are just driving from Strasbourg to Kehl for dinner. EU citizens can use a national ID card; everyone else needs a passport.
• Non-EU nationals need a passport plus the document that makes their stay legal: a visa, a residence card, or proof that they are within the visa-free limit of 90 days in any 180.
• Holders of a residence permit from one Schengen state may visit the others for up to 90 days in any 180. Carry the residence card with your passport: without it, at a check you are simply a foreigner without a visa.
• Coaches and trains are stopped more often than private cars. Allow an extra 30-60 minutes for connections if your route crosses a German border.

Since 2024 the Schengen rules have tightened in another detail. Regulation (EU) 2024/1717, which updated the Schengen Borders Code, allows states to hand over to a neighbour third-country nationals with no right to stay who are caught near the common border during joint police patrols. In plain terms, someone with an expired visa picked up on a cross-border train can be returned to the country they came from under a simplified procedure.

Does this affect visas, residence permits and pending applications?

The short answer: not directly. Internal border checks are a police tool, not a migration-office decision. Visas and residence permits already issued remain valid, and consulates keep accepting applications as usual.

There are indirect effects worth knowing in advance:

• Breaches of the 90/180 rule surface faster. Since 10 April 2026 the EES (Entry/Exit System, the EU's digital entry-exit register) has been fully operational at external borders and counts days of stay automatically. Internal checks add live police on the roads. Details are in our guide to EES and ETIAS.
• A recorded overstay hurts later applications. An overstay logged at a check will come up when you apply for residence or naturalisation years later.
• ETIAS is not live yet. The EUR 20 travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors has been postponed and has no official start date. We track the delays here.

Temporary on paper, permanent in practice

The Schengen Borders Code lets states reintroduce checks against a foreseeable threat for up to six months at a time, with extensions, but for no more than two years in total. In a major exceptional situation that can be extended by six months and then by a final six, for a maximum of three years. Any state keeping controls longer than six months must attach a risk assessment to every extension.

On paper these are strict limits. In practice France has checked its borders since 2015 and Germany since 2024, and neither is slowing down: each new notification rests on a fresh set of threats. The Commission can issue an opinion on whether the measures are necessary, but it cannot ban them. Freedom of movement in Europe survives, but it now comes with a passport in your pocket.

Who should rethink their plans

If you live in one Schengen country and work in or travel often to another, internal checks add friction but do not close the door. It is harder for people trying to live in Europe on tourist visas and visa-free 90-day stays, hopping from country to country. That approach was always borderline, and the odds of meeting a check on the way are now higher.

The durable fix is a legal status in the country where you actually live. For remote workers that means digital nomad visas, for example in Germany or Portugal. For people with passive income, France offers the visiteur visa (visitor), a residence permit for those who live on their own means and do not work in the country. For professionals with a job offer there is the German work visa.

If freedom of movement matters regardless of what European police decide, a second passport is worth considering. The options are collected in our citizenship section.

Our visa and residence services in Europe

We help you choose a status that settles the question at any check, and handle it from the first certificate to the residence card.

A move is more than a visa: we model taxes in Germany and France and help with company formation and banking. If you are choosing a city, start with our guides to Berlin and Paris.

FAQ