Vacationers to sure European international locations will say goodbye to passport stamps and expertise a brand new border management course of as Europe’s long-awaited new Entry/Exit System started its rollout Oct. 12. The launch of the system, which makes use of biometric information as a substitute of passport stamps to register the visits of non-European Union vacationers, was initially anticipated in 2021.
The EES is obligatory for all non-EU nationals, and you can not choose out of getting your biometric information captured. In case you refuse, you’ll be denied entry.
What’s the EES?
The EES is an automatic data know-how system designed to register non-EU nationals touring for a brief keep to any of the 29 European international locations utilizing the system. A “brief keep” is outlined as as much as 90 days inside any 180-day interval. One of many system’s essential features is figuring out those that overstay the allotted time.
“The EES modernises border administration by rising effectivity and high quality of processes on the border. It additionally simplifies journey and makes it safer,” based on the official web site of the European Union.
The international locations utilizing the system are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
EES international locations embody 25 of the 27 EU member states, with solely Cyprus and Eire not taking part. These international locations will proceed to carry out handbook border passport checks. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are non-EU international locations however are members of the Schengen Space and comply with the short-stay guidelines.
When will it’s absolutely carried out?
On Oct. 12, 2025, the system started a six-month phased launch. Throughout that interval, information assortment will steadily be launched at border crossing factors. It’s anticipated to be absolutely carried out by April 10, 2026.
Through the rollout interval, vacationers might not have their biometric information collected at each border crossing or their private data registered within the system, and passports will proceed to be stamped as regular.
On Monday, Oct. 13, Eric Rosen, TPG’s director of content material, departed Amsterdam for Los Angeles on KLM.
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“Together with EU passengers, I used to be directed to e-gates that took my image and scanned my passport, then I used to be nonetheless directed to speak to frame patrol brokers at a close-by kiosk who gave me a bodily passport stamp,” he mentioned. “I requested in regards to the rollout, they usually mentioned it will be a while earlier than they stopped stamping passports, based on what they’d been informed by supervisors.”
In accordance with the web site of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), the brand new EES system can be carried out in phases beginning Nov. 3. Different airports, together with Germany’s Dusseldorf Airport (DUS), Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) and Luxembourg Airport (LUX), started utilizing the brand new system instantly Oct 12. This isn’t an exhaustive record of airports already utilizing the EES, so it is value double-checking the airport’s web site earlier than you depart.
How US vacationers are affected
The subsequent time you fly by way of an airport with the brand new border crossing level system, you need to present your private information out of your passport, together with your full title and date of delivery. Passport management officers will scan 4 of your fingerprints and/or take a photograph of your face to be saved in a digital file referred to as the Biometric Matching Service. You could possibly register a few of your information upfront utilizing a self-service system if it is accessible at your border crossing level or a cellular app if the nation you are touring to has one. Nevertheless, you’ll nonetheless have to see a passport management officer.
The fingerprints of kids youthful than 12 is not going to be scanned.
The EES tracks the date and site of every entry and exit, together with whether or not you had been refused entry. Information of entries, exits and refusals can be stored for 3 years after which mechanically erased. Vacationers can request entry to their information, request corrections and ask that their information be deleted.
You might have to arrive on the airport sooner than regular whereas vacationers navigate the brand new techniques.
In accordance with LUX’s web site, “whereas the introduction of the brand new EES system might result in barely longer border processing occasions, the Luxembourg Airport groups stay absolutely dedicated to offering a easy and nice journey expertise. Devoted workers can be accessible to help passengers, and we are going to proceed to intently monitor the scenario to make sure the journey by way of the airport stays as seamless and comfy as doable.”
PRG’s web site advises non-EU nationals to anticipate “longer ready occasions at each arrival and departure border management.”
Backside line
The EES shouldn’t be the one change coming to European journey. The European Journey Info and Authorisation System continues to be anticipated to be carried out for visa-free vacationers within the final quarter of 2026. The ETIAS software charge will now be 20 euros (about $23), a rise from the initially introduced charge of seven euros (about $8).
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