It’s been the 12 months of latest journey restrictions and rules, each for potential guests to the United States and for Americans desperate to broaden their wings and enterprise overseas. We already know that the times of passport stamps—these darling, analog reminders of locations visited—are numbered, with 29 international locations set to start phasing the stamps out subsequent month. And as a part of that new journey improvement, one member of the European Union is getting a head begin on implementing the techy new verification course of for these getting into or exiting the nation.
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Starting on Sunday, October 12, Croatia—a well-liked vacation spot for Americans searching for gorgeous seaside landscapes, scrumptious gastronomic experiences and stunning medieval cities (the nation continuously stood in for the fantastical places in Game of Thrones)—would be the first nation to implement the Entry/Exit System, or EES, within the European Union.
Designed to exchange these conventional passport stamps, the EES border system will use digital monitoring and biometric knowledge to improve safety and pace up border crossings into the 29 international locations within the Schengen Area. In layman phrases, it implies that, upon your first arrival at one of many 9 worldwide airports situated in Croatia, vacationers will use self-service kiosks to scan their passport, present 4 fingerprints and snap {a photograph} at border management. Once you obtain digital verification of your entry and exit, you are good to go.
The biometric knowledge can be saved for 3 years, which suggests you will not need to undergo that fingerprinting course of typically—on future journeys into the Schengen Area, you’ll solely have to undergo a fast facial scan at a kiosk to substantiate your identification. According to the European Union, the Entry/Exit System can be enacted in all EU international locations by April 10, 2026.