Introduction of European Entry-Exit Scheme (EES)

[cactustwirly]

When is Dover doing it for everyone. Is it new years day?

Sometime in 2026

 

[EYFanatic]

Went to Amsterdam on DFDS on a minicruise meaning entry was at Ijmuiden. Apart from a slightly longer then normal queue because a couple of families that couldn't speak good English or Dutch were trying to understand the new system, everything seemed alright with the manual booths as normal. I asked why the new machines were not being used and got told that they have decided, locally, to wait until the rest of the system comes into play in 2026

Exiting that evening was exceptionally quick though given my bus was delayed due to heavy traffic, it seems they may have just waved people though after just stamping the passports as previous

I found it pretty much okay really

 

[The exile]

I'm trying, and currently failing, to pick a small EU airport to fly to which won't be busy and I can "get it done" - thought of flying LCY to Rotterdam; however what worries me is this summer, even if I've been processed, it will still take hours to get through the queues at places like Malaga, Ibiza, Palma etc..

Because of medical issues, I might see if I can get assistance - never even considered that before.

I’d hoped (vainly) that Bremen would already be up and running earlier this month so Ivcould do it all in a language I’m fluent in, but no such luck. Just hope that Bologna in May is fairly quiet!

 

[D6130]

Perugia....from Stansted? (Ryanair unfortunately!)

 

[zero]

I'm trying, and currently failing, to pick a small EU airport to fly to which won't be busy and I can "get it done" - thought of flying LCY to Rotterdam; however what worries me is this summer, even if I've been processed, it will still take hours to get through the queues at places like Malaga, Ibiza, Palma etc..

Because of medical issues, I might see if I can get assistance - never even considered that before.

I can report that Venice was very easy. The registration kiosks ask you questions about why you are coming to Italy and what you are bringing, so I can't see how you could "get it done" as you'd need to answer the questions every time unless they force everyone to do it on a website/app in advance or be denied boarding.

 

[Segedunum]

Budapest last Sunday night was slow and messy. Staff were using mobile fingerprint machines and phones to take pictures while people were in the queue, with one officer in particular making it his mission to be as rude as he could to every passenger. It took a good hour to get out of the airport from landing.

 

[Howardh]

I can report that Venice was very easy. The registration kiosks ask you questions about why you are coming to Italy and what you are bringing, so I can't see how you could "get it done" as you'd need to answer the questions every time unless they force everyone to do it on a website/app in advance or be denied boarding.

Interesting point, maybe when it all settles down - if ever (!) - then everyone will simply slide their passport and give their prints, and get the green light but some may be randomly chosen for questioning? Otherwise it won't make one scrap of difference time wise - except to make things slower, for everyone, every time.

Mind you, if it gets to that stage, a much larger % of the UK population than even now will be demanding a prompt return to the EU (and maybe even join Schengen!!) to avoid all this; and we haven't even started with the ETIAS.

Do any countries inside the EEA but outside Schengen have to go through all this (bios/fingerprints/date checking) to enter Schengen? Thinking Norway, Iceland etc?

 

[zero]

Do any countries inside the EEA but outside Schengen have to go through all this (bios/fingerprints/date checking) to enter Schengen? Thinking Norway, Iceland etc?

No, because it's being in the EEA which confers freedom of movement

 

[Howardh]

No, because it's being in the EEA which confers freedom of movement

Thought so; in which case the UK public need to demand we are treated the same, either by joining the EEA (Single Market) or some kind of recriprocal agreement with the EU/EEA r/e travellers/tourists. In the end it would be better for the EU financially as folks like me will simply not go to avoid all this.

 

[island]

Do any countries inside the EEA but outside Schengen have to go through all this (bios/fingerprints/date checking) to enter Schengen? Thinking Norway, Iceland etc?

Norway and Iceland are inside the EEA, but they are not outside Schengen. Passengers of whatever nationality arriving at another Schengen country from Norway or Iceland, and vice-versa, are not subject to routine passport checks. Passengers whose passports were issued by an EEA country such as Norway or Iceland, or an EEA non-Schengen country such as Cyprus or Ireland, who arrive at a Schengen country from a non-Schengen country, pass through the "EU EEA CH" passport queues where provided, and are not subject to the Entry Exit System.

 

[mrmartin]

Is there any country which is using the kiosks + egates? Tbh I thought that was the whole idea to drive efficiencies?

I thought the idea would be that you would register once with the kiosks and then go to the egates. And as time went on only a small percentage of people would need to use the kiosks (as they'd mostly all been registered from previous trips). I can't see how this is possible if as others have said:

1) you need to use the kiosks on every trip because they are not about registering you, they are about registering you plus asking questions on the trip

2) even with 1) everyone seems to be having a border guard manually take fingerprints or what not

 

[island]

The regulations require biometrics to be collected under the supervision of a border guard.

In theory once collected the e-gates should be the only necessary stop on subsequent trips and they verify image or fingerprints, but it does not seem to be working out that way in practice.

 

[Mag_seven]

On arrival at Naples the other day there was a sign directing EU/Schengen country passport holders and already EES registered passport holders to e gates. With a UK passport I was directed to a specific e gate followed by a passport stamp.

 

[Class73Electro]

How do you know if you are registered? Have had photos/fingers taken at St Malo (ferry), so am I "done" now?

 

[FinsburyPark]

On arrival at Naples the other day there was a sign directing EU/Schengen country passport holders and already EES registered passport holders to e gates. With a UK passport I was directed to a specific e gate followed by a passport stamp.

In this case, is it true that for already registered EES people, the EES stuff is done inside the Egate?

 

[mrmartin]

The regulations require biometrics to be collected under the supervision of a border guard.

In theory once collected the e-gates should be the only necessary stop on subsequent trips and they verify image or fingerprints, but it does not seem to be working out that way in practice.

Hmm but where do they collect the answers to the questions at? Surely this won't be done at the egate itself? Or are they not going to bother with that and just ask the questions on first registration?

In this case, is it true that for already registered EES people, the EES stuff is done inside the Egate?

Yes this is what I'm confused about. I assume so as all the airports seem to have put in new egates so I would assume they have the capability...

 

[zero]

Hmm but where do they collect the answers to the questions at? Surely this won't be done at the egate itself? Or are they not going to bother with that and just ask the questions on first registration?

Well one of the questions I was asked at the kiosk was "how much cash are you carrying now?", so it would have to be re-answered every time. It didn't seem possible to be asked questions at the e-gate itself. Also the e-gate had a screen showing when the 90 days in Schengen would be up (presumably it should eventually take into account other recent trips too since it's not 90 days on each entry).

 

[1D54]

Surely the question on cash carrying needs to be sorted out for obvious reasons. Are they seriously going to take passengers to a cash machine so as to prove they have sufficient funds for the trip if they only admit to having a few €s in readies?

 

[Mag_seven]

In this case, is it true that for already registered EES people, the EES stuff is done inside the Egate?

All that happened was it read my passport details, scanned my face and then displayed a green tick and let me through. I've no idea if it actually "recorded" anything.

 

[island]

Surely the question on cash carrying needs to be sorted out for obvious reasons. Are they seriously going to take passengers to a cash machine so as to prove they have sufficient funds for the trip if they only admit to having a few €s in readies?

That has been known to happen if a border guard is suspicious about a passenger, but for fairly obvious reasons cannot be done systematically.

 

[gswindale]

Surely the question on cash carrying needs to be sorted out for obvious reasons. Are they seriously going to take passengers to a cash machine so as to prove they have sufficient funds for the trip if they only admit to having a few €s in readies?

What question about cash? The only question we were asked at Kuusamo was how many days we were staying for. No mention of having re-mortgaged tye house to pay for our drinks in our hotel.

Tye question i have is that the e-gates are adult only, so travelling as a family, what happens now? Will there be a shorter "family" queue as seemed to be the case in Lisbon (but they weren't doing any of the EES stuff in October)?

 

[zero]

Surely the question on cash carrying needs to be sorted out for obvious reasons. Are they seriously going to take passengers to a cash machine so as to prove they have sufficient funds for the trip if they only admit to having a few €s in readies?

Well there was another question about whether you have bank cards, so it's not like they assume everyone should bring enough cash for your stay.

What question about cash? The only question we were asked at Kuusamo was how many days we were staying for. No mention of having re-mortgaged tye house to pay for our drinks in our hotel.

The question about cash that the kiosk in Italy asked me - but as we have seen every Schengen country is implementing this differently.

 

[scarby]

Mind you, if it gets to that stage, a much larger % of the UK population than even now will be demanding a prompt return to the EU (and maybe even join Schengen!!) to avoid all this; and we haven't even started with the ETIAS.

You have to ask what this all actually achieves apart from making life difficult for law-abiding citizens.

People these days don't complain enough.

I don't doubt that the real wrong'uns just find ways to slip in and out of countries undetected anyway.

 

[Howardh]

You have to ask what this all actually achieves apart from making life difficult for law-abiding citizens.

People these days don't complain enough.

I don't doubt that the real wrong'uns just find ways to slip in and out of countries undetected anyway.

Well if they have an EU/EEA ID card, then easily enough into the Republic and then there's no physical border between them and the UK!

Of course legal tourists have for some time been able to use ID cards for day trips from France to the Channel Islands, and if the UK (even allowing that CI's aren't in the UK but they abide by "our" immigration laws) insists that all visitors from Europe's mainland have to have (a) passports and (b) "our" EES profiling, then many simply won't bother and it affects the Channel Islands income. They were never in the EU but our vote may upset their tourism economy. Maybe, like Gibraltar, they should have voted too??

Two ways round that, those departing the CI for the mainland (boat/air) could have their ID checked to see if you are British/Irish and can travel to the UK passport-free so Europeans can enter the CI using just ID cards and can't travel onwards to the UK without passport, or the CI's just do a Gibraltar and become, in effect, part of Schengen thus we Brits would need passport/EES just to enter Jersey.

To me one of the plusses of the Channel Islands is there are no passport/immigration checks on entry from the Common Travel Area. Take that away and - well, might as well go to Bournemouth or Brighton, climate's almost the same.

 

[eoff]

Hmm but where do they collect the answers to the questions at? Surely this won't be done at the egate itself? Or are they not going to bother with that and just ask the questions on first registration?

Under the old and interim systems sometimes I was not asked any questions at all. About 3 out of 4 times on entry I'm asked what the purpose of my trip is and how long I will be staying.

 

[zero]

Under the old and interim systems sometimes I was not asked any questions at all. About 3 out of 4 times on entry I'm asked what the purpose of my trip is and how long I will be staying.

Again this varies by country. For me since Brexit:
- mainland Nordic: full interrogation, show return ticket and/or hotel booking, asked for moderately detailed description of itinerary
- Germanic speaking areas: 1 or 2 quick questions (how long is your visit, where is your hotel, anything specific you plan to do)
- Slavic speaking areas & Baltics: 0 or 1 quick question
- Romance speaking areas, Faroes and Iceland: hello / stamp / enjoy your visit

 

[Cloud Strife]

(even allowing that CI's aren't in the UK but they abide by "our" immigration laws)

Strictly speaking, they don't. They have their own immigration rules, and for instance, an ETA is not required to travel from France to the Crown Dependencies at the moment. The UK takes responsibility for issuing visas, but the decision is made by each Crown Dependency independently, and the requirements aren't the same. A good example is with the NHS surcharge, which doesn't apply for those applying for visas to the islands.

If Gibraltar does form a common travel area with Schengen, I could see the Channel Islands leaving the CTA and adopting the same agreement, as the boost to tourism (especially Jersey) would outweigh the disadvantage of passport checks between them and the CTA.

 

[Mag_seven]

Just a gentle reminder that this thread is for the discussion of the introduction of EES. If anyone wants to discuss anything else then please start a new thread elsewhere.

 

[Djgr]

I'm trying, and currently failing, to pick a small EU airport to fly to which won't be busy and I can "get it done" - thought of flying LCY to Rotterdam; however what worries me is this summer, even if I've been processed, it will still take hours to get through the queues at places like Malaga, Ibiza, Palma etc..

Because of medical issues, I might see if I can get assistance - never even considered that before.

I thought "getting it done" was a one off event but this has unfortunately not been my experience.

All you can do is go with the flow

 

[FinsburyPark]

I came through Berlin Brandenburg today. The EES machines are switched on, on one floor, yet no one is using them.