Europe’s New Border Controls For November—What Travelers Should Know

Europe plans to introduce a new biometric passport system in November 2024, followed six months later by a new travel authorization for many of its visitors—here’s what travelers need to know.

Europe’s New Entry And Exit System (EES) Will Be Live In November 2024

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson confirmed that the new Entry/Exit system would be deployed on Sunday, 10 November 2024 and that the new process is in the final testing stage.

The EES is a new scheme that uses biometric data to allow short-stay visa holders and visa-exempt travelers to pass through borders into a Schengen-area country. Fingerprints and faces will be scanned as travelers pass through electronic gates.

It is intended that it will replace passport stamps, which are currently used across European countries. However, stamps take time and do not allow countries to record overstayers (people who have stayed longer than they are allowed).

The system will register the person’s name, the type of travel document, biometric data (fingerprints and captured facial images), and the date and place of entry and exit.

The Commission calls the EES “the most advanced border management system in the world,” ensuring that travelers do not stay in the Schengen area for more than 90 days in any 180 days.

Johansson told reporters, “With the Entry/Exit System, we will know exactly who enters the Schengen area with a foreign passport. We will know if people stay too long, countering irregular migration. And the Entry/Exit System will make it harder for criminals, terrorists, or Russian spies to use fake passports thanks to biometric identification, photos, and fingerprints.”

The Schengen area includes 29 countries—25 of the 27 EU member states and all countries in the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). This area is 4 million square kilometers and has a population of almost 420 million people, which allows the free flow of these people within this area. Ireland and Cyprus are the two EU countries not currently in the Schengen area.

The EES, Entry and Exit System was initially planned for 2020 but was delayed due to technical issues and again for the Paris Olympic Games.

USA Today suggests that American travelers should allow a bit more time to transfer through European airports after the new system is introduced.

Europe’s ETIAS Travel Authorization Will Be Live In 2025

ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System will oblige visitors who travel on passports that don’t require a visa to apply for authorization before arriving in one of the participating European countries.

According to the EU website, 1.4 billion people from over 60 visa-exempt countries would need travel authorization to enter 30 European countries for a short stay. These travelers come from countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the US, the UK, and the UAE.

The EU Home Affairs Commissioner confirmed that ETIAS will go live approximately six months after the EES, although there is no set date.

It will operate much like the ESTA scheme in the US, where travelers not visiting on a US passport have to register before entering Europe for a fee of $7. Travelers under 18 and over 70 will be exempt from payment. The right to enter will last three years, then travelers must reapply.

The list of European countries that will require ETIAS authorization are listed here.

While authorization will be quick and easy, CNTraveler reports that travelers should apply to ETIAS for the first time at least 96 hours before flight departure.