Non-European Union citizens travelling to countries in Europe’s Schengen area – within which physical borders between member countries have been removed – will soon have to use a new automated biometric system that is set to replace usual passport procedures.
The EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) will be rolled out on Sunday, October 12 and will apply to 29 countries in the Schengen area. The EU expects EES to be fully functional by April 10 next year.
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Here’s what we know about the EES and who it is going to affect:
What is the EES, and who will it apply to?
The EES is a digital border check system which will keep track of non-EU citizens who enter and exit Europe’s Schengen zone – an area composed of 25 EU members and four non-EU nations which guarantees freedom of movement with no internal border checks.
According to the EU, the EES will apply to those making short-stay journeys into the Schengen zone. A non-EU traveller is someone who does not hold EU nationality or the nationality of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
Short-stay Schengen visas are issued to people staying in the zone for up to 90 days within a 180-day period.
Citizens from the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and others who normally do not need a visa for short stays in the Schengen zone will, however, also be subject to EES.
The EES will not apply to:
- Nationals of the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus as they are part of the EU even though they are inside the Schengen area
- Holders of passports issued by the Vatican City State or the Holy See
- Non-EU nationals who hold residence permits in EU countries, including Ireland and Cyprus
- Non-EU nationals who are travelling for research, study, voluntary services or au pair services
- Travellers who hold residence permits in or long-stay visas for Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, which are not members of the EU but can only be accessed on land via a Schengen-area country
- People who hold a valid local border traffic permit, crew members of passenger and goods trains on international connecting journeys and people who have been granted certain privileges which exempt them from border checks
How will the EES work?
A non-EU traveller entering any of the Schengen countries will be directed to an immigration booth or a kiosk in the airport, train or bus station they have arrived at. There, their personal data from their passport, including full name, nationality and biometric data such as a facial image and fingerprints, will be recorded. Children below the age of 12 will not have to provide fingerprints.
Bram Frouws, director of the Mixed Migration Centre, a Geneva-based knowledge centre, told Al Jazeera that the EES will not be used for internal border controls.
“Free movement within Schengen remains in place,” he said. Therefore, once travellers are inside the Schengen area, they will not have to undergo checks to travel between Schengen countries.
The EES system will also record the traveller’s exit from the Schengen zone.
A person’s details will be recorded the first time he or she uses the system. The next time the person travels into the Schengen area, their personal details will be verified against those held on file. As long as the system does not flag any new issues, the traveller will be allowed to enter the Schengen country.
Biometric data is held on file for three years following any entry to the area, as long as travellers comply with short-stay visa rules. If you overstay, your details will be held for five years.
The EU Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) will manage the EES.
The bloc’s border agency, Frontex, has also announced the launch of an EES app through which travellers will be able to pre-register their biometric details.
Chris Borowski, spokesperson for Frontex, told Al Jazeera: “The EES app will help travellers register their details more easily before they reach the border, saving time and reducing queues. Each country decides how and where to use the app – for example at airports or land borders – and must ensure it meets their national requirements before going live.”
So far, five countries have indicated they may wish to use the app: Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Hungary and Greece. Sweden is the first to have confirmed it will use the app at selected border points, including Arlanda Airport, once EES starts operating.
Frontex said it is also also working with France, Germany and the Netherlands to organise pilot tests at key travel hubs next year.
Why is EES being introduced?
The European Council announced the EES border management system in July, with a view to “improving the effectiveness and efficiency of controls at the EU’s external borders”, it said.
It added that the system will help to ensure people do not overstay their visas, will reduce identity fraud and will reduce irregular migration to the Schengen zone.
“Strong protection of our external borders is vital for the European Union. The new Entry/Exit system will help us ensure that non-EU nationals travelling to Europe comply with our rules. That will make our borders safer and border checks more efficient,” Kaare Dybvad Bek, the EU’s minister for immigration and integration, said in a statement in July.
Frouws added that the system is designed to identify non-EU travellers who “enter the EU legally, but then overstay [their short stay visa or permit] and try to stay and work in the EU irregularly”.
“They will be flagged automatically and, for example, then face a ban on re-entry in the future. In principle, those with a short-term visa, whether migrants or refugees, can still move through the Schengen zone,” he said.
What does this mean for people seeking asylum?
Frouws pointed out that EES should not initially present difficulties for asylum seekers, as their biometric data is recorded via a different system, called the Eurodac. However, he warned that there could be problems if the EES is used for asylum seekers in the future.
“A refusal to provide biometric details into the EES could be a reason to be denied entry,” Frouws said.
Taking biometric data enables the EU to track where an asylum seeker first entered the bloc. Under the EU’s Dublin regulation, the country of arrival is responsible for processing an asylum claim.
But Frouws explained that some refugees do not necessarily want to claim asylum in their country of arrival because they may have family connections in a different EU country.
The introduction of EES has raised a number of questions relating to asylum seekers and whether it will make them more vulnerable, therefore.
“Will this [EES] always be properly handled at external borders? Could this be used as a way to deny asylum seekers entry? And will asylum seekers know about all their rights and obligations in relation to these systems? These will be important things to watch in the coming months if it is used for asylum seekers,” Frouws said.
Will the EES infringe on travellers’ privacy?
“Like with all such [biometric-data] systems, there is a risk of over-use or abuse,” Frouws said. “For example, you could imagine a future where cameras on streets will be linked with the facial recognition information in EES, and there will be more automated crackdowns on migrant overstayers. Right now, this is not allowed. But it’s possible technologically, there is a risk that this will change in the future.”
According to the EU, however, “Travellers’ data will be collected and stored in full compliance with EU data protection rules and rights.”
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in 2018, safeguards the privacy of individuals by levying fines on individuals or organisations violating privacy and other security standards.
The EU has also highlighted that a traveller’s details collected from EES will only be accessible by border, visa and immigration authorities, law enforcement authorities, Europol and transport companies such as airlines, which are required to report if they are alerted that people have overstayed their short-stay visas.
In unspecified “special circumstances”, the EU said, it could transfer a traveller’s data to an international organisation or country outside the EU, however.
Will there be a visa waiver system with EES?
Yes, but not immediately. Once the EES comes into force properly in 2026, the EU will roll out a new visa waiver system called the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) for citizens of countries exempt from short-stay visas, including the UK, the US, Israel, Albania, Japan, Canada, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, among others.
British nationals living in the EU and family members who are already beneficiaries of the UK’s withdrawal agreement with the EU following its withdrawal in 2020 will be exempt from the system altogether. They will travel on their EU or UK passport alongside their EU resident card, which shows they are beneficiaries of the withdrawal agreement.
Those who do need to apply for ETIAS will have to pay a fee of 20 euros ($23.48). Applicants who are aged below 18 years or more than 70, family members of EU citizens or of non-EU nationals who have the right to free movement in the EU, will be exempt from paying this fee.
Once an application is made, an ETIAS waiver will be issued within minutes for many travellers. It may take longer if border check authorities require more information. It will be digitally linked to a person’s travel document and will be valid for three years or until the travel document expires.
