After several delays over the last couple of years, we can finally report that from 12th October, the experience of travelling through Schengen area frontiers will change forever.
There will be a staggered rollout, lasting 180 days, to “scan the fingerprints or take a photo of those crossing the border for the first time”. This information will be recorded in a digital file and, in effect, will be your Digital ID.
The process is expected to be completed by 9th April 2026. Six months later, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be imposed.
What exactly is the Entry-Exit System – EES?
EES is an automated border management system that will replace stamping passports. Instead, biometric information is stored in a central database, and every frontier in the Schengen area will be connected to the central database. The Schengen nations comprise all EU nations except Ireland and Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The European Commission. describes it as “The most modern digital border management system in the world, an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals who are travelling to the EU for a short stay.”
The system will track when and where non-EU travellers (aka third-country nationals) enter and exit the Schengen Area and will identify those who overstay their welcome. The rule is that third-country nationals may stay a maximum of 90 days within any 180 days within the Schengen area. They say the system will also identify suspected criminals and combat identity fraud. The new system will not apply in Ireland (or, for the time being, Cyprus).
So no more passport stamping?
According to the European Union, the system “will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings, and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers”.
Initially, travellers passing through for the first time will find that getting through the airport will take longer while the data is collected, but ultimately, the system will make the whole journey much quicker.
If you hold a biometric passport, you will be able to enter more quickly using the self-service system (if available at that border crossing point).
What is ‘ETIAS’ and when does it start?
Once EES is in full force and working well, the next step will be to implement the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). This will likely happen six months later.
ETIAS is not a visa – Europe refers to this as “a pre-travel authorisation system”. Its function is to tighten entry controls. Third-country nationals (who do not require a visa) have to apply online in the same way the US eSTA scheme works. The cost is €20 and is valid for three years.
Those under 18 or over 70 will still need to apply for and hold an ETIAS, but it will be free for them.
The 29 participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden , Switzerland
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- Travelling to the UK – you may need an ETA – here’s what you need to know.
MORE INFO: European Union website
By the way, the scrapping of passport stamping is not new:
- Australia stopped back in 2012 when it introduced the SmartGate system.
- Argentina gave up the stamping system a decade later, in 2022 and moved to a digital system.
- Hong Kong also stopped in 2013, and Singapore in 2019.