US Plans For Stricter Entry Requirements Raise Concern In Germany Diplomacy

Plans by the U.S. government to tighten entry requirements are drawing attention from the German federal government. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Office stressed in Berlin on Monday that entry regulations are “fundamental decisions of the respective state.” However, he added that the German government generally seeks “within our diplomatic relations to influence decisions wherever possible that we might consider disadvantageous.”

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The spokesperson declined to say explicitly whether the German government had raised the issue directly with the U.S. administration regarding the planned measures. He stated only: “We are of course taking note of what is currently in the pipeline there.” The Foreign Office and its diplomatic missions in the United States are observing developments “very closely.”

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Under the new U.S. proposal, German citizens and nationals of several other countries would be required to disclose their online activity from the past five years when traveling to the United States. This requirement appears in an order issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in December. According to the order, tourists must “submit their social media of the past five years” when applying for the ESTA travel authorization. This apparently refers to user accounts on platforms such as X, Facebook, or Instagram, similar to what is already required in visa applications.

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Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, had expressed concern about the U.S. plans. German citizens, she warned, must “carefully weigh for themselves whether they are prepared to give U.S. authorities data of this scope” in order to enter the country, a spokesperson told AFP. It remained unclear when the new rules would take effect. “At the present time, these are initial plans,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said on Monday in Berlin.

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In the U.S. Department of Homeland Security order dated December 10, a 60-day objection period was mentioned, which expired on Sunday. If the regulation is not legally challenged by then, for example, by data protection advocates, it will take effect.

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