European Union member countries have begun rolling out a new entry and exit system at the bloc’s external borders, electronically registering data of non-EU nationals.
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated system that requires travellers to register at the border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken.
The Entry/Exit System aims to detect overstayers, tackle identity fraud, and prevent illegal migration.
The European Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner, Magnus Brunner, said in a statement that “the Entry/Exit System is the digital backbone of our new common European migration and asylum framework.”
Non-EU citizens will have to register their personal details when they first enter the Schengen area—all EU member countries apart from Ireland and Cyprus, but including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Subsequent journeys will only require facial biometric verification.
The system should be fully operational, with passport stamping replaced with electronic records, on April 10, 2026.
“Every third country national who arrives at an external border will undergo identity verification, security screening, and registration in the EU databases,” Brunner added.
At the Bajakovo border crossing between Serbia and neighbouring Croatia, an EU member state, hundreds of people, many of them Serbians, queued in their cars on Sunday for around 20 minutes before entering booths for fingerprinting and face scanning.
For British travellers using the Port of Dover, the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone, or the Eurostar terminal at London’s St Pancras International, the process takes place at the border before they leave the UK.
Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel, while the Eurostar at St Pancras was gradually introducing the new process, starting with some business travellers.
“The UK and EU have a shared objective of securing our borders, and these modernisation measures will help us protect our citizens and prevent illegal migration,” British Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said.