EES system: a digital revolution in border controls for non-EU travellers

For example, British citizens, as well as visa-exempt travellers, regardless of whether they are travelling for tourism or business. This also applies to those who own property in the EU but do not have a residence permit.

All information is recorded by the 25 European Union member states in the Schengen Area (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), as well as four countries outside the EU (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). Ireland and Cyprus, however, are excluded as they are not part of the Schengen Area and will continue to carry out manual passport checks.

Similarly, family members of EU citizens who hold a residence card issued by one of these countries are exempt. Crew members on international trains and aeroplanes are also exempt, as are military personnel and their family members on missions under the Partnership for Peace or NATO.

Citizens of Andorra, San Marino, Vatican City and Monaco will not be required to undergo the EES.

The queues anticipated once the EES became fully operational have indeed materialised: airport and airline associations have been calling for months for the scheme to be suspended during the summer, whilst the EU has promised to allow a degree of flexibility to manage the longer summer queues.

“Waiting times now regularly reach two hours during peak periods, and some airports are reporting even longer queues,” said the airport association ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe (A4E) in a joint statement.

One of the main reasons for the significant delays is that, as of 31 March, all passengers arriving from third countries must be registered via the EES. In the past, border authorities were able to suspend the EES procedures, either in full or in part, during periods of peak traffic.

From 10 April, this will no longer be possible.

For this reason, after 10 April, travellers will probably need to arrive at the airport between one and a half and two hours earlier than usual, to allow for the delays caused by the EES.

However, these delays are expected to ease in the medium term, once the EES procedures are more fully established.

Meanwhile, airport and airline associations continue to call on the European Commission to allow the partial or total suspension of the EES at border controls throughout the 2026 summer season, where necessary.

Biometric passports are not strictly necessary for the EES. They are only needed to use the self-service kiosks and to check in and enter more quickly, but they do not always work.

Anyone with a standard passport must use the staffed counters for initial registration and provide a photograph and their fingerprints.

This data will be retained for three years, making subsequent checks significantly quicker. Travellers who refuse to provide their biometric data will be automatically refused entry.

Children under the age of 12 do not need to provide fingerprints, but they must still have their photograph taken.

It is not necessary to register in advance for the EES, because registration takes place at the border upon arrival in the EU.