Berlin, March 16, 2026 – Germany has fully dismantled temporary passport checks at its nine land borders, marking the end of six-month controls that expired at midnight on March 15. Early on March 16, federal police removed the last inspection booths along key frontiers, including the Rhine and Moselle with France, restoring seamless Schengen travel for the first time since their reintroduction on September 16, 2025.www.visahq.comwww.visahq.com

The measures, justified under Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code due to record irregular migration, people-smuggling networks, and asylum system strains, covered borders with France (451 km), Switzerland (362 km), and others like Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands.www.travelandtourworld.com They reduced clandestine entries by 38% on the French border but caused significant disruptions, with queues up to 45 minutes for commuters and freight, impacting 200,000 daily crossers in France-Germany regions and 60,000 in Switzerland-Germany. Businesses reported added costs and missed slots in corridors like Strasbourg-Kehl and Basel-Weil am Rhein.

Neighboring countries and industries welcomed the change, easing "double inspections" despite France's controls lasting until April 30 and boosting tourism in Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. Germany's Interior Ministry noted potential targeted spot checks remain, but routine inspections are gone, normalizing flows by morning on key crossings. This revives the Schengen ideal of free movement amid ongoing EU biometric external border upgrades.www.thetraveler.org