European Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced 10 November 2024 will be the official commencement date for the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES). The automated system will register non-EU visitors digitally across all 29 Schengen countries, eliminating the need for physical passport stamps.

According to the European Commission’s Department of Migration and Home Affairs, “EES will replace the current system of manual stamping passports, which is time consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers”.

What is the EU Entry/Exit System (EES)

EES was first presented on 06 April 2016 as part of the EU’s revised Smart Borders Package to help prevent cross-border crime and terrorism. Originally slated to take effect in 2022, it has been delayed numerous times as many EU countries struggled with integrating their border systems with the new Central Data Base. Additionally, France specifically requested that EES be postponed until after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Effective 10 November, Passport Control Officers will scan your fingerprints and take your photo. This information will be logged into a central EES database that will only be accessible by Europol, border and visa authorities. Data will be stored for five years. To speed up the process, you may be able to register some of your data in advance by using a self-service kiosk or mobile application if available at your border crossing point. Regardless, you will still have to meet with a Passport Control Officer.

Once registered, Passport Control Officers will only verify your fingerprints and photo since all information will have already been recorded in EES.

What Countries must comply with EES

The EES applies to all short-stay visitors from non-EU countries including the United States and the UK.

Advantages of the EES

After the initial launch and collection of data, EES should (in theory) speed up border crossings. EES will also have an online tool where you will be able to check the number of days you have remaining to stay in a Schengen country. The visa-free limit of 90 days in a 180 day period remains in effect, so the online tool will help prevent any unintentional overstay.

Passport Stamps

While travelers love collecting passport stamps to create a nostalgic paper trail of their travels, you will only have until November to get one from a EU member country. With the implementation of the Entry/Exit System, passport stamps will become a thing of the past. However, it is important to remember that passports will still be required. So, be sure to have your passport with you and check the expiration date!

Additional Information

For a more detailed description of the EU’s Exit/Entry System see our previous post here.