Despite pleas from airlines, the travel industry and passengers, it looks like the European Union is going ahead with the full introduction of the new EES entry/exit system on April 10. SafeAbroad’s latest bulletin notes that only half of non-EU travellers have so far been processed under the biometric scheme; from Thursday, 100 % will face facial-image and fingerprint capture when entering or leaving the Schengen Area and queues of up to four hours have been building up ai airports across Europe since the roll-out began last Ocober.
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the following European countries using the system. For the purpose of the EES, ‘non-EU national’ means a traveller not holding the nationality of any European Union country or the nationality of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
‘Short stay’ means up to 90 days within any 180-day period. This period is calculated as a single period for all the European countries using the EES. You will have to provide your personal data. Passport control officers will take a photo of your face and/or scan your fingerprints. This information will be recorded in a digital file.
This process can be quicker if you register some of your data in advance. You can do this by using:
the dedicated equipment (“self-service system”), if available at your border crossing point; and/or
a mobile application - if made available by the country of arrival or departure. In any of the instances above, you will meet a passport control officer.
However, the buld up to the big day has been far from smooth and there are calls for the system to be lifted during peak holiday times to ease airport congestion. The 29 participating countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Ireland and Cyprus are not part of the system.
What You Need to Do Before You Fly
There’s no online form or pre-application required for EES — registration happens at the border. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to prepare. Getting a few things right before departure can save you significant time in what are likely to be very long queues. Arrive much earlier than usual. Airport associations ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe (A4E) have warned that border processing is already taking up to 70% longer at some airports. Brussels Airport is advising non-Schengen passengers to arrive three hours before departure.
Download the Travel to Europe app if your destination supports it. This official EU app lets you pre-register your passport data and biometric photo up to 72 hours before arrival, potentially cutting your queue time at the border. As of April 2026, only Sweden and Portugal have deployed the app, with France, the Netherlands, and Italy expected to follow later this year.
Check your passport carefully. EES requires a machine-readable passport in good condition. Damaged or heavily worn passports may fail scanning, sending you to manual processing — the slowest lane.
A few more essentials: One person, one passport. Under EES, every traveller — including children — needs their own individual travel document. School groups can no longer travel on collective passports.
Know your 90/180 rule. EES will automatically track your days in the Schengen Area. If you’ve used some of your 90-day allowance recently, the system will flag it. Biometric passports help but aren’t mandatory. If you have one, you can use self-service kiosks for faster processing. Standard passports require a manned booth.
And, British passport holders have been urged to carry out one essential check before a significant change takes effect on Friday, or they could face a substantial holiday surcharge.
- Have a 'date of issue' less than 10 years before the date you arrive – if you renewed your passport before 1 October 2018, it may have a date of issue that is more than 10 years ago
- Have an 'expiry date' at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue)
Should your passport fail to meet the above requirements, you risk being refused entry and turned away at the airport. This could leave you having to fork out for an additional flight back to the UK from the Schengen area you are unable to enter, while losing out on your holiday entirely. It is therefore essential to check that your passport is valid, and if not, renew or replace it at the earliest opportunity. You can renew or replace your passport via the government website, with the process typically taking around three weeks, though it may take longer during peak travel season.