Austria’s most-used land frontier will remain an internal Schengen border in name only for another six months.
On 16 February 2026 Germany’s Federal Interior Ministry confirmed that the ad-hoc passport controls it re-introduced in September 2024 will be prolonged through at least 15 September 2026. The notification, submitted the same day to the European Commission, covers all German land frontiers but is felt most acutely on the 815-kilometre border with Austria, where five motorway corridors and a dense network of secondary roads funnel commuters, holidaymakers and just-in-time freight between Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck.
For travellers and businesses trying to keep pace with these shifting rules, VisaHQ can be a useful ally: through its Austria portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) the service tracks real-time Schengen entry requirements, alerts users when passports or residence cards are nearing expiry, and arranges fast renewals or courier deliveries—helpful safeguards when spot checks can happen at any motorway exit or train station.
![Germany Extends Temporary Border Checks Until Mid-September 2026, Keeping Pressure on Austria’s Schengen Traffic]()
According to the ministry, the extension is justified by “continuing migratory and security pressures” and by what Berlin calls the absence of a “fully functional European asylum system”. Spot checks, typically carried out by mixed patrols of federal police and customs officers, allow officers to stop any vehicle or train and request identity documents. While the legal basis remains Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code (temporary re-introduction of controls), business associations argue that the measure has turned into a semi-permanent fixture: the original six-month derogation has already been rolled over three times.
Austrian stakeholders are divided. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner welcomed the decision, saying it has helped to reduce irregular entries into Austria’s own territory by roughly 30 percent year-on-year. The Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, by contrast, warns that predictable motorway queues—often one hour or longer at Kufstein-Kiefersfelden—raise logistics costs and deter lorry drivers from taking mandatory rest breaks in Austria. The tourism sector fears renewed headlines about “border chaos” just weeks before the Easter holiday season, when alpine resorts rely on German day-trippers.
Practically, travellers should expect random checks on the A8/A1 “Tauern axis”, the A12 Inntal and A13 Brenner motorways as well as on long-distance Railjet and ICE services. Companies sending employees across the border are advised to carry passports (or national ID cards for EU nationals) plus proof of assignment and accommodation. Third-country nationals holding Austrian residence permits must ensure that their cards are valid for the full duration of the trip; overstaying permits have been a common reason for refusal of entry.
The extension also keeps political pressure on Vienna to finish digitalising its own border infrastructure ahead of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) launch on 10 April 2026—something Vienna Airport is already fast-tracking with €6.5 million in new biometric kiosks.
On 16 February 2026 Germany’s Federal Interior Ministry confirmed that the ad-hoc passport controls it re-introduced in September 2024 will be prolonged through at least 15 September 2026. The notification, submitted the same day to the European Commission, covers all German land frontiers but is felt most acutely on the 815-kilometre border with Austria, where five motorway corridors and a dense network of secondary roads funnel commuters, holidaymakers and just-in-time freight between Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck.
For travellers and businesses trying to keep pace with these shifting rules, VisaHQ can be a useful ally: through its Austria portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) the service tracks real-time Schengen entry requirements, alerts users when passports or residence cards are nearing expiry, and arranges fast renewals or courier deliveries—helpful safeguards when spot checks can happen at any motorway exit or train station.
According to the ministry, the extension is justified by “continuing migratory and security pressures” and by what Berlin calls the absence of a “fully functional European asylum system”. Spot checks, typically carried out by mixed patrols of federal police and customs officers, allow officers to stop any vehicle or train and request identity documents. While the legal basis remains Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code (temporary re-introduction of controls), business associations argue that the measure has turned into a semi-permanent fixture: the original six-month derogation has already been rolled over three times.
Austrian stakeholders are divided. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner welcomed the decision, saying it has helped to reduce irregular entries into Austria’s own territory by roughly 30 percent year-on-year. The Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, by contrast, warns that predictable motorway queues—often one hour or longer at Kufstein-Kiefersfelden—raise logistics costs and deter lorry drivers from taking mandatory rest breaks in Austria. The tourism sector fears renewed headlines about “border chaos” just weeks before the Easter holiday season, when alpine resorts rely on German day-trippers.
Practically, travellers should expect random checks on the A8/A1 “Tauern axis”, the A12 Inntal and A13 Brenner motorways as well as on long-distance Railjet and ICE services. Companies sending employees across the border are advised to carry passports (or national ID cards for EU nationals) plus proof of assignment and accommodation. Third-country nationals holding Austrian residence permits must ensure that their cards are valid for the full duration of the trip; overstaying permits have been a common reason for refusal of entry.
The extension also keeps political pressure on Vienna to finish digitalising its own border infrastructure ahead of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) launch on 10 April 2026—something Vienna Airport is already fast-tracking with €6.5 million in new biometric kiosks.
