Travel

Airports, new rules for travelling in Europe. How they work and where

Away with the passport stamp replaced by fingerprints and photographs for non-EU travellers: first tests at Malpensa and Fiumicino extended to all by 9 April

by Mara Monti

10 October 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

What is SSE and to whom does it apply?
What does the new ESS process consist of?
Countries that will require SSE
What information will be collected with the ESS
You don't have to prepare anything before you go
European visa from next year

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Goodbye stamps in passports as of tomorrow. On 12 October, in fact, the computerised entry and exit system will enter into force in the 29 Schengen member states. The new system will digitally record the entries and exits, as well as the passport data, fingerprints and facial images of non-EU citizens travelling for short stays in European member states. The entry into force, the EU Council explains, will be gradual: individual countries will only be able to introduce the new system at certain border points. From April 2026 the implementation will have to be completed.

Airports, new rules for travelling in Europe start on Sunday

It promises to be a momentous change that will come into effect on Sunday 12 October in border control procedures. A new digital entry/exit system (EES) will be operational in most parts of the continent, forcing all non-EU citizens, including Britons, to register personal data when entering EU countries for even short stays.

What is SSE and to whom does it apply?

Although D-Day is scheduled for Sunday, EES will be implemented gradually in the period between 12 October 2025 and 9 April 2026. In Italy, the first airports to start with the new control systems in test form will be Milan Linate and Malpensa in addition to Rome Fiumicino: electronic fingerprinting systems are being tested at these airports. These will be joined by the ports of Civitavecchia and Genoa. The gradual entry of the system foresees that from 20 October checks will be carried out at all airports with a quota of 10% of passengers in transit at the borders, a quota that is destined to rise to 100% by 9 April, as foreseen by Regulation (EU) 2025/1534 published on 23 July 2025.

What does the new ESS process consist of?

In fact, the EES, managed by the Border Police, replaces the manual stamping of passports with a biometric and data-driven process. It has an impact on non-EU travellers staying up to 90 days in a 180-day period each year for short holidays, business trips and cross-border travel within the Schengen area.

Countries that will require the ESS

The aim of the new process is to crack down on crime and enforce the 90-day stay limit in a year. The data will be collected by the European eu-LISA system the computer brain based in Tallinn, Estonia, with the task of processing all information from the 25 EU member states of the Schengen area (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, 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). while Ireland and Cyprus are excluded because they do not belong to the Shengen area. In particular, Ireland is part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) together with the United Kingdom, which allows free movement between the two countries.

What information will be collected with the ESS

The procedure involves scanning fingerprints, a photograph at border control. You may also be asked to register your data at a self-service kiosk or mobile app, if available. Children under the age of 12 will only need to take a photo.

After the initial registration, subsequent crossings should be faster, as passport control will simply verify the stored data. E-passport holders will be able to use the self-service gates, identified by a small golden logo in the shape of a camera in their passport. It is not excluded that in the first phase of the entry into force of the new system there will be queues for registration procedures at border controls arriving from non-EU countries, so be prepared, but afterwards everything will be faster. Digital documentation will come three years after each journey.

Nothing needs to be prepared before leaving

there is nothing to prepare before travel, as the new procedure will be applied at any entry point. The old system will still be in place in most countries with the introduction of the ESS, but countries such as Estonia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic should be ready for the new procedure immediately if the centralised Eu-Lisa system does not crash due to the high volume of data to be processed.

European visa from next year

The news for travellers in Europe is not over. As of next year, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will come into force, i.e. the Euro visa, to obtain which you will have to register before travelling. In this case, you will have to apply for the authorisation online before travelling to Europe at a cost of EUR 20 and valid for three years, or until your passport expires. People under 18 or over 70 are exempt from paying.