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Ramstein Air Base is a US Air Force base located in Germany, and therefore in the Schengen Area

US Military personnel and some civilians can travel there from the US, even on a private basis, provided that the person is eligible, through the Patriot Express DOD program.

Since it is a US Air Force base, it got me curious about how do the, legally required, border controls to be cleared into the Schengen Area work there.

Are the controls operated by German Federal Police officers at arrival on base, like at any German entry point? Or are the controls specially done by specified US or German military personnel?

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  • What makes you think this is Schengen territory?
    – 8192K
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 12:00
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    @Sebastian Because it is in Germany physically (and you likely legally enter Germany by flying into that base), and I don't really think they'd do Schengen border controls at the base's gates. Now, a part of the question is to know if there are such controls at all, I can imagine many reasons for it not to be border controls
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 12:07

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I only have information on how this is handled in Bavaria, but I would very much assume that the same or very similar procedures are followed in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate where Ramstein is located.

The NATO regulations cover travel for direct members of the force, civilian employees working for the force and their dependents (close relatives like spouses and children). This group of people is exempt from regular immigration checks and visa requirements. So far so good.

Then to what you asked about: If persons not covered by this exemption are travelling on a plane directly in or out of a foreign airbase, German guidelines require the airbase to inform the German police in advance and they will come and perform a regular immigration check of these persons. The regulations foresee that the immigration check is to be performed outside the airbase, as German officials are usually not allowed to enter. This procedure is again very similar to how private extra-schengen flights are handled to and from airports with no commercial traffic or permanently staffed immigration control. Such flights must also be announced in advance and the border police will come to perform the required procedures.

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Since it is a US Air Force base, it got me curious about how do the, legally required, border controls to be cleared into the Schengen Area work there.

It is not regulated by Schengen Area entry conditions, but by the conditions of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement

These agreements affect status, entry and departure from the host nation, military training within host nation territory, jurisdiction, law enforcement, taxation, import and export laws, driving privileges, employment, mail, schooling, housing and much more.

Sources:

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    Does that also apply to non-official travel? 1.1.a. of the NATO Agreement only mentions the travel for official duties
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 12:41
  • @NicolasFormichella Please explain in detail what non-official travel would occur in military transport planes? If I remember correctly, in the 1970's military dependents often arrived in civilian airports. They would already have the SOFA certificate stamped in their normal passport.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 13:06
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    Ramstein Air Base (along with some other US bases in Asia) are special in the fact that any eligible US personnel and their dependents can travel there off-duty on a space-available (Space-A) basis aboard the DoD-chartered daily flight from BWI (there is even a hotel inside Ramstein for such purposes). Well-used AFAIK for vacations and family reunions.
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 13:17
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    Travel orders are issued to people that are ordered to go there. Personnel that want to go there for leisure will certainly not be issued travel orders, therefore aren't traveling for official duties, and I would assume that they are subject to the same requirements as for any other tourist that is entering Germany.
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 13:51
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    This posts covers which rules are in force, not how they are acted on. Basically it is a non-answer.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Mar 22, 2023 at 16:44

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