If you hold an American passport, you're probably used to traveling internationally with relative ease. You may be surprised, then, to learn that several countries require Americans to jump through some hoops to visit. As of January 2026, at least 20 countries require American citizens to obtain either a tourist visa or another form of electronic travel authorization prior to visiting, and that doesn't yet include Europe's ETIAS "visa" system, which rolls out later this year.
Note that this list does not include countries that the U.S. Department of State has advised U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to by issuing Level 4 travel advisories. It also doesn't include destinations that are not currently issuing visas for Americans or that TPG has not recently or routinely covered.
Here's what you need to know.
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