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Is there anywhere else in the world where people can (legally) cross an international border without any immigration check, like in the Schengen area? (Assuming pre-Covid-19 pandemic situation)

If not, is there any serious project to have an Schengen-like area anywhere else in the world ?

Notice: I am not looking for custom unions, including micro-states delegating their custom to their neighbour.

Relaxed
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Bregalad
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    Anyway, this sounds not really like a political question but rather like a travel question. Perhaps we should migrate it to https://travel.stackexchange.com? – Philipp Mar 16 '21 at 10:37
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    @Philipp I disagree, border control policy is clearly in the remain of politics and I'm not interested in traveling myself (at least not in the context of this question). – Bregalad Mar 16 '21 at 11:34
  • As Schengen has not made in one day, is the result of years of (economical) integration with previous treaties.

    There are few examples of similar agreements but all have few differences (and many of them are strictly economical)

    There is a Mini-Schengen of some former Jugoslavian countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-Schengen_area

    CEFTA (Central Europer non-EU memebers) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_European_Free_Trade_Agreement

    Craiova Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craiova_Group

     – effedici Mar 16 '21 at 11:57
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    The borders between the states come to mind, the only difference is that the USA is considered one country while the USE is not. – Reasonably Against Genocide Mar 16 '21 at 12:58
  • Technically, neither of the US borders (Canada, Mexico) are open. It's just that there is (less) fencing between the US and Canada than the US and Mexico. – CGCampbell Mar 16 '21 at 13:53
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    I'll just leave this as a comment because it today is replaced with Schengen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Passport_Union – Thomas Koelle Mar 16 '21 at 13:59
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    (+1) Note that the Schengen area is not a customs union, there are in fact several Schengen members who do maintain a customs border and customs check with the European Union (Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway). Conversely, Ireland (the whole island) is part of the EU customs union but never lifted immigration checks. – Relaxed Mar 16 '21 at 17:12
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    The Schengen area is also unique in that it established a common visa policy for third-country nationals and partly harmonized immigration rules (at least when it comes to short visits). Other formal border-free agreements (e.g. CTA, Benelux, Nordic Passport Union) or simply loosely enforced borders (e.g. Switzerland pre-Schengen) never officially entailed a full recognition of the member's visas. The risks were just deemed low enough to make systematic check of each border crossing unnecessary. – Relaxed Mar 16 '21 at 17:19
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    India-Nepal is one of the candidate in the list. Visa is nor required for crossing the border btw. two. – SwiftPushkar Mar 16 '21 at 20:35
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    @SwiftPushkar surely someone who needs a visa to visit one country isn't excused from that requirement simply because they're entering from the other one. – phoog Mar 17 '21 at 01:47
  • The integration between Russia and Belarus is somewhat between EU and US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_State – fraxinus Mar 17 '21 at 11:03
  • @Fraxinus it seems that Russia and Belarus are less tightly linked than both the EU and the US in some respects (no common legislature or courts, for example), and back to the topic at hand, my understanding of the border crossing situation for foreigners is that it's more like the common travel area than the Schengen area (but still different from the CTA). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus%E2%80%93Russia_border – phoog Mar 17 '21 at 18:56
  • Anybody want to consider Antarctica? – Joshua Mar 18 '21 at 02:50
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    @ThomasKoelle the Nordic Passport Union is still meaningfully in effect and not entirely subsumed by or "replaced with" Schengen. – Leif Willerts Mar 18 '21 at 10:36
  • While it does contain some kind of border check due to the countries being islands connected via harbors/airports, Australia and New Zealand have free movement of their citizens. Any Kiwi can freely decide to go live in Australia, and vice versa. Unsure if you're focusing on the border checks themselves or the freedom of movement given to the citizens. – Flater Mar 18 '21 at 13:29

9 Answers9

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Central America-4 Border Control Agreement is probably an example of what you are searching for.

Is a treaty between 4 Central American countries that allows the free movement across borders. They also have a common-design passport:

  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Nicaragua

Further details on Wikipedia page - it even mentions the similarity to the Schengen Agreement.

Ekus
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effedici
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    I agree that the CA-4 is a great example and, to my knowledge, the international agreement that most closely resembles the Schengen one. However, it is very poorly implemented - as a foreigner I have always, no exception, experienced border checks and delays while crossing inner CA-4 borders. It always felt like a regular border crossing. Free movement inside CA-4 is a pipe dream, it's certainly nothing like Schengen where you might even fail to notice you've entered a different country. – magma Mar 18 '21 at 18:12
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    @magma can you cross the border willy-nilly if you're a citizen though? Does anyone check IDs? – JonathanReez Mar 18 '21 at 23:10
  • @JonathanReez in my experience, everyone around me was being stopped and questioned, regardless of nationality. They didn't just check IDs, they checked luggage, one by one. For instance, crossing Honduras/Nicaragua (a CA-4 crossing) and crossing Nicaragua/CostaRica (an international crossing) has always been a very similar experience for me. ID Checks, luggage inspection, long lines. – magma Mar 19 '21 at 00:06
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  • Common Travel Area
    United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.
  • CARICOM
    Not quite sure if it is "no stamps" or "no checks."
  • GCC
    Not quite sure if it is "no stamps" or "no checks."
Basil Bourque
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o.m.
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  • There are checks in both the GCC and the Carribean. – JonathanReez Mar 16 '21 at 22:03
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    In the CTA, the freedom of movement only applies to CTA citizens - a non citizen needs a passport. In the Schengen area, once anyone is in, they do not need to show their passport to cross an internal border (except by plane, but there is no visa check, only an id check) – CSM Mar 17 '21 at 22:06
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    @CSM, I thought the CTA had literally no border checkpoints these days. Same in Schengen, even if people crossing the border must carry their papers -- just no routine controls. – o.m. Mar 18 '21 at 05:28
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    @CSM Note that the ID check before intra-Schengen flights is just something that several airlines do at their discretion, typically to prevent illegal reselling of their tickets. It will be a gate agent who checks your ID, not a government official. The rules of Schengen prohibit systematic official ID checks for internal border crossings of any kind. – TooTea Mar 18 '21 at 08:28
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    @o.m. There are no routine border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland, but it’s still illegal for a non-UK and non-Irish citizen to cross the border without the appropriate visa. – Mike Scott Mar 18 '21 at 12:14
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    @MikeScott right but that’s the same in Schengen. Or is the difference that there is no visa for the CTA, and you’d need multiple visas? – Tim Mar 18 '21 at 15:32
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    @MikeScott, it is also illegal to cross an intra-Schengen border without the appropriate visa. But for practical reasons, most Schengen visas are issued with the full Schengen scope. – o.m. Mar 18 '21 at 15:36
  • @o.m. Are there border checks still for air travel? Or does one simply require photo ID for security reasons? – Tim Mar 18 '21 at 20:24
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    @Tim, currently there are non-standard quarantine rules. Before that, there were non-standard rules due to the refugee situation. But in theory, the flights go through the domestic gates. – o.m. Mar 19 '21 at 05:44
  • @Tim In the past I flew a few times inside Schengen (most often Berlin-Venice) without being checked any document beyond my self-printed boarding pass. I don't know if it was an oversight, but my understanding was that it is not illegal for the air company to do so. – Denis Nardin Mar 19 '21 at 14:51
  • @DenisNardin, my understanding is that crossing the border without document checks was legal, for you and for the airline. The issue is entering the airport security area without document checks as part of the security scan, which is an issue for the police or companies deputized by the police to perform checks. – o.m. Mar 19 '21 at 17:26
  • @o.m. Even these days I do not need my documents to go airside in the Venice airport (you just need to pass the automatic doors that check only the boarding pass, the security people do not check your documents). Is it possible that the rules are different in different places? – Denis Nardin Mar 19 '21 at 17:29
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The Vatican is internationally recognized as a independent state. However it is very small (0.44 square km) and does not a have visible border with Italy/Rome. Everybody can walk freely between the two areas. Italian police even have full authority on public grounds in the Vatican.

thieupepijn
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    And it's located within the Schengen area anyway. – Bregalad Mar 16 '21 at 16:33
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    Yes, but The Vatican is not part of the EU or Schengen. – thieupepijn Mar 16 '21 at 18:42
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    I guess the arrangement between the Vatican and Italy pre-dates the Schengen agreement. Can anybody more knowledgeable comment on that? – Dohn Joe Mar 17 '21 at 08:01
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    No, Vatican allows free access only to S.Peter square, the church and few other places.

    To access to the Supermarket and the Pharmacy you need to make an authorization at the borders (S.Anna entrance).

    To access to offices and other places you need to be resident, employee or have other authorizations.

     – effedici Mar 17 '21 at 08:59
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    Monaco might be a better example. I may be wrong here since I did this many years ago as a child, but I remember that you could move from either France or Italy into Monaco before Schengen without border controls. – terdon Mar 17 '21 at 11:43
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    @terdon You are correct, you won't even notice the border - also even though it's close to Italy you need to cross France unless you go by sea. In all cases my OP wasn't for micro-states. – Bregalad Mar 17 '21 at 11:49
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    @effedici those restrictions arise because of customs (similar to the borders between Switzerland or Norway and the rest of the Schengen area) and because "offices and other places" are private facilities like any other anywhere else in the world. Neither of them has to do with immigration restrictions. – phoog Mar 17 '21 at 12:52
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    @phoog Vatican is surrounded by walls except the St.Peter church that is outside. The Vatican has customs and controls at every access from the walls (you see Swiss Guards and Gendarmerie). According to agreements with the Italian State, you have free access to the St. Peter's square and church (and Vatican Museums) but not to other places. To go to ANY other place you need an authorization (like a Visa but simplier). – effedici Mar 18 '21 at 09:44
  • @effedici "you see Swiss Guards and Gendarmerie" does not rule out the possibility that these premises are simply closed to the unauthorized public. There are guards at Buckingham palace, the white house, and so on, but nobody suggests that the authorization needed to pass these checkpoints is akin to a visa. – phoog Mar 18 '21 at 14:46
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Mercosur!

It stands for Mercado común del Sur (or Southern Common Market). It is a union of 4 South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and Associated States (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru).

Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency.

Personally, I have crossed the Brazil-Uruguay border a bunch of times and no-one has asked me for documents.

F1Krazy
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gmauch
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This is no longer true, but I feel like it's recent enough to be worth answering.

Travel for most people between the US and Canada used to not require any documentation as recently as 2009. I remember going to Canada as a kid, and while the border was guarded, they generally didn't stop personal vehicles, only trucks.

Ryan_L
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    I grew up in Canada in the 1960s, an hour's drive from the US border. We were very rarely asked for paperwork. When I met my (now) wife in the early 1980s, it was still like that. But, her family immigrated from Egypt. They spoke fluent, unaccented French, but they were visibly Arab. I remember arriving at a border crossing with her and her parents, sitting in the back seat behind her father (the driver). As we were driving up, her father said "everyone get their drivers license" (odd to me). When we got there, the guard said "I need IDs from you and you and you", skipping me. – Flydog57 Mar 17 '21 at 00:10
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    This is not really comparable to Schengen. When I crossed from Germany to the Netherlands in the 1990s, I only knew because the language on the signage had changed. There was literally no border post whatsoever. – Matthew Mar 17 '21 at 02:34
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    And when we crossed from Switzerland to France, we only know because the signs themselves are different, even though the language is the same :) – Bregalad Mar 17 '21 at 07:56
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    @Matthew: I hope you remembered to adjust your speed. Driving 150 in Germany is a bit on the slow side, driving 150 in the Netherlands will cost you your license. More seriously, new crossings (such as the A61) indeed have been built entirely without facilities for border controls, not even for trucks. – MSalters Mar 18 '21 at 12:16
  • I recall completely unguarded crossings--not on major routes, but on small roads in rural areas. Just a sign to the effect "you are now entering Canada [United States]. If you have anything to declare, please report to customs station at [town] or [town]." – user4556274 Mar 18 '21 at 12:25
  • I was in US on a visa pre 2009 and definitely required a visa to go to Canada. – hojusaram Mar 18 '21 at 13:32
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    @hojusaram indeed. Unguarded crossings between the US and Canada are similar to the Schengen area in one respect, but completely unlike it in most respects. One thing that people often confuse is the freedom of movement afforded to EU citizens (which applies across external Schengen borders) and the freedom of movement afforded to everyone inside the Schengen area (which applies only to internal borders). But the former US-Canada situation is analogous to neither, really, as it was more about allocation of resources to enforcement than about freedom of movement. – phoog Mar 18 '21 at 15:24
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    @MSalters: Your concern for driver safety is appreciated, but I was on a bus. ;-D And actually, I got on that bus (following my friend) without realizing that it was going to the Netherlands, which caused me serious difficulties when I arrived and discovered that the public toilets required payment - in florins. Never have I been so glad to find a McDonalds, where the toilet attendant did accept Deutschmarks! But the fact that I could cross the border by accident, without ID, shows how different Schengen is from the North American context (as phoog rightly argues). – Matthew Mar 19 '21 at 10:55
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The five Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) have had various forms of cooperation agreements since the 1960s, which among others have included travel without passport. The Schengen Agreement has in many ways superseded these agreements since both Norway and Iceland, despite not being in EU, have in effect conformed to Schengen rules.

Anders Ohrn
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    Norway is in Schengen, as is Iceland. Schengen overlaps with the EU rather than being the same set of countries. Ireland, for example, is not part of it. – Jack Aidley Mar 17 '21 at 08:25
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The Schengen area is an adaptation of the US Constitutional guarantees that allow free travel and qualified immunities for US citizens traveling between US states. Remember, the US was originally conceived as a set of more-or-less sovereign states that would band together for common defense and common interests, much like the modern EU. It has since federalized into a stronger union, so that it now appears as a singular nation with component states, but the history is there.

Ted Wrigley
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    Can you provide any source for this? I find it highly unlikely that it was adapted from the US constitution. The Schengen area started out with just five members. There were many other passport unions around simultaneously, such as the one between Ireland and Great Britain, and the Nordic passport union. I think a larger passport union would have naturally formed, with or without the US as inspiration, as European countries got more economically integrated. You seem to imply that Schengen arose as part of EU, but it didn't. Also note that EU's purpose is not to provide a common defense. – C. E. Mar 17 '21 at 08:57
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    Both the Schengen area and the US Constitutional guarantees that allow dree travel are adaptation of the Ius Migrationis of the ancient Rome. – fraxinus Mar 17 '21 at 10:43
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    The Schengen area is nothing like the US -- and it wasn't inspired by it. Schengen predates the EU (1985, Maastricht Treaty is from 1992). Only 22 of the 27 EU members participate in the Schengen Area, and the EFTA states are associated Schengen States which for all intents and purposes makes them Schengen States, but they aren't EU members. Its not comparable with the US, who actually are one country ("one nation under god"), not in implementation, actual reality and history. – Polygnome Mar 17 '21 at 12:10
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    @Polygnome the phrase "one nation under god" has no legal or constitutional force. It arose 165 years after the present constitution was established. – phoog Mar 17 '21 at 12:46
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    @phoog No, but it is quite illustrative. The EU is a completely different framework, build from many parts that make up a whole, and Schengen and the EU are two different things, which this answer completely ignores. – Polygnome Mar 17 '21 at 13:02
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    This is interesting and may be factual, but it doesn't answer the question. The question is about international borders. – Captain Man Mar 17 '21 at 13:51
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    @CaptainMan: borders are borders. The question is whether there is anything like the Schengen area, and the antebellum US was reasonably close to what we now see in the EU in that regard (particularly if we include the western territories). It's not something we need to overthink... – Ted Wrigley Mar 17 '21 at 14:54
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    @TedWrigley "Is there anywhere else in the world where people can (legally) cross an *international border* without any customs check, like in the Schengen area?" – Captain Man Mar 17 '21 at 15:16
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    @Polygnome while the Schengen area is distinct from the EU and began as a separate agreement from the EEC, the EU has effectively assumed the administration of the Schengen area. Because of opt-outs, the two are not territorially linked, but the Schengen system is now one of the legal frameworks that make up the EU. For example, joining the Schengen area is (nominally, at least) a requirement for new EU members. In the TEU, the Schengen acquis is said to be "integrated into the framework of the European Union." – phoog Mar 17 '21 at 19:04
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    @phoog Precisely. You are making my point for me. The legal framework that makes up the EU is very different from the US with its constitution. – Polygnome Mar 17 '21 at 21:52
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The Compact of Free Association allows free trade and travel between the United States and three sovereign countries: the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

Since 2004, passports are required; however, this is not much different from the identification requirements for air travel within the United States.

DrSheldon
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    For context for those who may not be familiar with the background here, those countries all used to be part of the U.S.-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands following World War II, before gaining independence between the 1970s (Micronesia and the Marshall Islands) and the 1990s (Palau.) Between WWI and WWII, they were part of the Japanese-administered South Seas Mandate. – reirab Mar 18 '21 at 00:44
  • At least one of them was also involved in nuclear weapons testing by the U.S. – DrSheldon Mar 18 '21 at 01:01
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    Yes, the Pacific Proving Grounds was largely located inside the modern-day state of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, especially Bikini Atoll. Under the CFA, the U.S. continues to provide military protection for each of the member countries and is granted military bases. They continue to be missile test sites, though obviously not still nuclear test sites. – reirab Mar 18 '21 at 01:15
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    Passport requirement is quite different from identification requirement. – Leif Willerts Mar 18 '21 at 10:33
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Apparently there is a legal loophole that you can pass the border between Russia and Norway freely as long as it is not by car or by foot. So a few years ago a large number of Syrian refugees traversed this border by bike.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugees-crossing-border-norway-bicycles-exploit-legal-loophole

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-arctic-idUSKCN0R325N20150903

thieupepijn
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    I think you have misunderstood the situation. It's prohibited to cross on foot, and refugees can't realistically cross as a hitch-hiker or in a rental car. Therefore, the cheapest way to get to the border legally is by bike, and at the border, the refugees can then legally apply for asylum with the Norwegian authorities. – gerrit Mar 19 '21 at 10:23