Europe’s New Entry/Exit System Rolls Out on April 10 – Right here’s What Travellers Want To Know

After almost 10 years within the making, and a gradual roll-out throughout Europe since October 2025, the EU’s new Entry/Exist System (EES) will change into absolutely operational on Friday, April 10. 

It’s been carried out to modernise EU border safety checks, and regardless of points like ridiculously lengthy queues in Amsterdam and Paris throughout the first few weeks of the tech, plainly all is on schedule to function from the tip of this week. 

What really is the EES, and the way would possibly it have an effect on your journey plans? We’ve rounded up all the mandatory information you’ll want for those who’ve obtained an upcoming journey to Europe.

What is the EES and who does it apply to?

The EES (Entry/Exit system) is a brand new border management system that may exchange guide passport stamps with digitally recorded entries and exits throughout EU borders. It depends on biometric information like facial pictures and fingerprints, that are collected from you on the airport. 

Once registered, your information is saved and legitimate for 3 years (until you get a brand new passport in that point), and as an alternative of getting your passport stamped, you’ll as an alternative use an automatic self-service kiosk. You don’t want a biometric passport for this. 

Below is a listing of the 29 nations (25 EU member states, plus 4 nations within the Schengen space) the place the EES applies:

• 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
• Switzerland 

Who’s exempt from the EES?

Members of the EU and Schengen-area nations are exempt from the EES, as are the members of the family of EU nationals and people who maintain identification playing cards. Plane and practice crew members are exempt, as are armed forces personnel, in line with euronews. Nationals of Andorra, San Marino, Monaco and the Vatican City can even be exempt. 

Has the EES been profitable up to now?

According to the European Commission, a reported 24,000 folks have been refused entry based mostly on possessing fraudulent paperwork, expired passports or not providing an appropriate rationale for his or her go to, and greater than 600 folks have been flagged as safety dangers to Europe. 

Will the introduction of the EES trigger airport delays?

The reply might be sure. Despite the EU supposedly permitting flexibility throughout the busy summer time season, ‘waiting times are now regularly reaching up to two hours at peak traffic times, with some airports reporting even longer queues,’ stated airport affiliation ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe in a joint statement. 

The delays are all the way down to the truth that, since March 31, each single third-country passenger has needed to register (whereas border management authorities had been beforehand allowed to droop processing if the queues grew to become unmanageable). Because of those, passengers are suggested to reach on the airport between an hour and a half and two hours sooner than normal, to account for EES-related delays. 

If you’re actually anxious, the Travel to Europe app has been particularly designed by the EU to allow passengers to pre-register biometric photographs and passport information as much as 72 hours earlier than you arrive, which may prevent some severe time. 

What is an ETIAS?

Sometimes known as a ‘euro-visa’, ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, however will solely come into place when the EES has been fully rolled out – seemingly not till the final couple of months of 2026. You can learn extra about these in our information for UK travellers. 

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