I hear rumours that Portugal is in the process of changing Australians' need for a tourist visa to visit Portugal. Anyone know when this change will take effect??

Also, if you're travelling into and out of Portugal from Spain, could you risk not getting a visa, given that there are not any border controls due to the Schengen agreement? Or do train/bus inspectors check for visas??

Thanks,
burgher2001@yahoo.com

I have travelled Spain to/from Portugal on public transport several times over the past few years and have never been asked for my passport or any other documentation.

I doubt that Portugal will take a unilateral stance re-Australians without concurrence with the other Schengen agreement countries. If Portugal is your point of entry to the EU, they may require that you have a return ticket (out of EU) on your arrival (as Ireland sometimes does). They can do that within the current guidelines.

We were asked to show passports on the train between Salamanca and Lisboa last year. He really just glanced at ours since we were Americans with a visa for Spain, but there was a Nigerian man in our compartment, who carried a Greek passport (who knows! ) and they questioned him for several minutes before we could continue.

I went to Lisbon by car last weekend and on the road they've removed the border bunkers, there is only a sign to tell you. Road frontier in Elvas is now fully schengen-compliant"