Germany’s new interior minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has confirmed that the temporary identity checks re-introduced at all nine of Germany’s land borders will not expire on 15 March as previously scheduled. Speaking to Bild-Zeitung on the evening of 15 February, Dobrindt said the measure would be prolonged by a further six months “as an essential element of our overhaul of migration policy”.
What began as a limited response to a spike in irregular arrivals along the Balkan route in autumn 2024 is now entering its third extension period. Federal police units will therefore continue to stop cars, coaches and trains entering from Austria, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland. Under Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code, such controls may be renewed in six-month increments when “a serious threat to public policy or internal security” persists.
According to Interior Ministry figures quoted by Dobrindt, officers have intercepted almost 68,000 unauthorised entrants and turned back more than 46,000 since May 2025. The government argues that the checks have dramatically reduced asylum applications—7,649 first-time claims were lodged in January 2026, almost 50 % fewer than a year earlier. Critics counter that commuters and logistics firms are now wasting up to 45 minutes at certain crossings and that the controls undermine Schengen freedoms.
![Germany Extends Land Border Checks Until at Least September 2026]()
For travellers unsure which documents they now need to carry, VisaHQ can help cut through the uncertainty. The firm’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) offers real-time guidance on passport and visa rules for every nationality and can arrange any required paperwork, making cross-border trips smoother even while temporary checks remain in place.
For corporate mobility and supply-chain planners the extension means at least seven more months of potential delays on key freight corridors such as the A4 (Dresden–Wrocław) and A5 (Basel–Frankfurt). Coach operators must continue to schedule extra buffer time, while rail companies will maintain on-board ID checks on services like Munich–Salzburg and Dresden–Prague. Multinationals moving staff across borders should advise travellers to carry passports or national ID cards even on routine day-trips and to factor in longer transfer times when planning meetings or shift changes.
Longer term, migration lawyers expect renewed pressure on Berlin to lift the checks once the EU’s reformed Asylum and Migration Pact enters into force in June 2026. Should the pact deliver quicker external-border procedures, Germany could find it harder to justify permanent internal checks. Until then, however, Dobrindt’s announcement signals that “temporary” border controls have become the new normal for Schengen’s largest economy.
What began as a limited response to a spike in irregular arrivals along the Balkan route in autumn 2024 is now entering its third extension period. Federal police units will therefore continue to stop cars, coaches and trains entering from Austria, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland. Under Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code, such controls may be renewed in six-month increments when “a serious threat to public policy or internal security” persists.
According to Interior Ministry figures quoted by Dobrindt, officers have intercepted almost 68,000 unauthorised entrants and turned back more than 46,000 since May 2025. The government argues that the checks have dramatically reduced asylum applications—7,649 first-time claims were lodged in January 2026, almost 50 % fewer than a year earlier. Critics counter that commuters and logistics firms are now wasting up to 45 minutes at certain crossings and that the controls undermine Schengen freedoms.
For travellers unsure which documents they now need to carry, VisaHQ can help cut through the uncertainty. The firm’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) offers real-time guidance on passport and visa rules for every nationality and can arrange any required paperwork, making cross-border trips smoother even while temporary checks remain in place.
For corporate mobility and supply-chain planners the extension means at least seven more months of potential delays on key freight corridors such as the A4 (Dresden–Wrocław) and A5 (Basel–Frankfurt). Coach operators must continue to schedule extra buffer time, while rail companies will maintain on-board ID checks on services like Munich–Salzburg and Dresden–Prague. Multinationals moving staff across borders should advise travellers to carry passports or national ID cards even on routine day-trips and to factor in longer transfer times when planning meetings or shift changes.
Longer term, migration lawyers expect renewed pressure on Berlin to lift the checks once the EU’s reformed Asylum and Migration Pact enters into force in June 2026. Should the pact deliver quicker external-border procedures, Germany could find it harder to justify permanent internal checks. Until then, however, Dobrindt’s announcement signals that “temporary” border controls have become the new normal for Schengen’s largest economy.
