Travellers crossing into Germany by road or rail on 4 November encountered continued passport inspections, five weeks into Berlin’s latest six-month extension of internal Schengen controls. According to the European Commission’s monitoring table, Germany re-introduced checks on all nine land borders on 16 September and plans to keep them until 15 March 2026, citing sustained irregular-migration pressure and security concerns stemming from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Scope. Controls cover frontiers with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia and Poland. Spot checks also take place on cross-border trains and at small regional airports handling intra-Schengen flights. Although queues have shortened since the chaotic first week, freight forwarders still report average delays of 20–40 minutes for trucks on the A4 (Poland) and A8 (Austria).
![Reminder: Germany’s Temporary Border Checks Remain in Force Through March 2026]()
Political backdrop. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition has made tougher border management a flagship policy amid record opinion-poll support for the anti-immigration AfD. Brussels has tolerated successive German extensions but warns they must be “proportionate and time-limited”. Opposition parties argue the checks breach the spirit of free movement and hurt border-region SMEs that rely on daily cross-border staff.
Business impact. HR teams with cross-border commuters must plan for occasional ID inspections and advise staff to carry residency permits or EU national IDs at all times. Logistics managers face higher costs: German hauliers estimate the controls add €4 million a month in driver overtime and fuel. Companies posting workers to Germany should budget extra lead-time for A1 certificate spot audits, which the Bundespolizei often combine with border operations.
Outlook. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt says Berlin will review the measure in January but hints a further extension is possible if irregular arrivals remain above 12,000 a month. Mobility practitioners should therefore assume checks will persist into the spring project-mobilisation season and embed buffer days into relocation timelines.
Scope. Controls cover frontiers with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia and Poland. Spot checks also take place on cross-border trains and at small regional airports handling intra-Schengen flights. Although queues have shortened since the chaotic first week, freight forwarders still report average delays of 20–40 minutes for trucks on the A4 (Poland) and A8 (Austria).
Political backdrop. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition has made tougher border management a flagship policy amid record opinion-poll support for the anti-immigration AfD. Brussels has tolerated successive German extensions but warns they must be “proportionate and time-limited”. Opposition parties argue the checks breach the spirit of free movement and hurt border-region SMEs that rely on daily cross-border staff.
Business impact. HR teams with cross-border commuters must plan for occasional ID inspections and advise staff to carry residency permits or EU national IDs at all times. Logistics managers face higher costs: German hauliers estimate the controls add €4 million a month in driver overtime and fuel. Companies posting workers to Germany should budget extra lead-time for A1 certificate spot audits, which the Bundespolizei often combine with border operations.
Outlook. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt says Berlin will review the measure in January but hints a further extension is possible if irregular arrivals remain above 12,000 a month. Mobility practitioners should therefore assume checks will persist into the spring project-mobilisation season and embed buffer days into relocation timelines.
