Visa requirements for US citizens

US citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, the United States and 46 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

No country asks holders of the US passport for a visa beforehand while its own citizens enter the United States without one.

The reverse holds for 107 countries: holders of the US passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for the United States (Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia and 102 others).

18 countries ask holders of the US passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 16 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in the United States.

2 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in the United States, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country.

Schengen consulates in the United States refused 4.9% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 69th highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the US passport

By continent, the US passport is visa-free in 43 countries in Europe, 29 countries in the Americas, 19 countries in Asia, 15 countries in Africa and 6 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for US citizens are allowed in Albania (360 days), Georgia (360 days), Palau (360 days), the Bahamas (240 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days) and Armenia (180 days).

Visa on arrival

US citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and 26 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how US citizens enter Azerbaijan, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and 20 others. Australia, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis and 2 others ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

The United States’ neighbours

Canada and Mexico admit US citizens without a visa. For the other neighbours, the rules are: Cuba (e-Visa for up to 90 days).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Canadian passport ranks 39th (156 destinations), the Mexican passport ranks 54th (137 destinations) and the Cuban passport ranks 146th (57 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 4 can enter visa-free, 42 need an ETA, 140 need a visa from an embassy or consulate and 12 are not admitted for the United States.