ETIAS Visa-Waiver Scheme and Biometric Identification of British passport holders entering the Schengen Area 2024/2025
Update August 2024: EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson of the European Commission has confirmed that the new EU digital border check system, the EES, will launch on Sunday, November 10th 2024
Update May 2024: EES From Autumn 2024 tourists aged 12 and over with British passports will no longer have their passports stamped on arrival and departure from the Schengen area as a means of checking whether they have exceeded their 90 out of 180 day stay allowance. Instead all travellers will be required to link biometric photo and fingerprint data to their specific passport number and personal details so the Entry and Exit System (EES) can carry out overstay checks electronically.
Your biometric data will be gathered just once on your first entry into the Schengen area from late 2024 and will remain valid for 3 years from the *last trip* taken to the Schengen Area and for the lifetime of the passport so travellers may only need to provide biometric data once a decade if using a newly-issued passport and they travel to the Schengen Area at least once every 3 years.
If your British passport is nearing its expiry date, consider renewing it early to avoid having to undergo biometric data registration all over again when a new passport is issued. British citizens can choose to renew *at any time* during the 10 year validity. Bear in mind if you lose or renew your passport you will need to undergo biometric registration again to travel to Schengen area as your data is linked to a specific passport number
Data collection kiosks able to process 60 cars simultaneously are now installed at the Calais Eurotunnel terminal. Unconfirmed reports are saying the EES is expected to come into force at ports and airports in October or November 2024 after the Paris Paralympics.
It has not yet been announced whether travellers can have their biometric data registered this summer prior to EES coming into operation but it would certainly reduce queues at ports if permitted. If not, plan a weekend trip to Le Touquet (Le Belvédère of course!) in the off season to avoid the biometric rush at busier holiday times
The ETIAS visa-waiver scheme (see below for details) is expected to be introduced 6 months after the EES system comes into operation, probably in Spring 2025
Your biometric data will be gathered just once on your first entry into the Schengen area from late 2024 and will remain valid for 3 years from the *last trip* taken to the Schengen Area and for the lifetime of the passport so travellers may only need to provide biometric data once a decade if using a newly-issued passport and they travel to the Schengen Area at least once every 3 years.
If your British passport is nearing its expiry date, consider renewing it early to avoid having to undergo biometric data registration all over again when a new passport is issued. British citizens can choose to renew *at any time* during the 10 year validity. Bear in mind if you lose or renew your passport you will need to undergo biometric registration again to travel to Schengen area as your data is linked to a specific passport number
Data collection kiosks able to process 60 cars simultaneously are now installed at the Calais Eurotunnel terminal. Unconfirmed reports are saying the EES is expected to come into force at ports and airports in October or November 2024 after the Paris Paralympics.
It has not yet been announced whether travellers can have their biometric data registered this summer prior to EES coming into operation but it would certainly reduce queues at ports if permitted. If not, plan a weekend trip to Le Touquet (Le Belvédère of course!) in the off season to avoid the biometric rush at busier holiday times
The ETIAS visa-waiver scheme (see below for details) is expected to be introduced 6 months after the EES system comes into operation, probably in Spring 2025
Update: 29 July 2024 - The EU/Schengen have still not officially announced a date for the introduction of EES controls but airports and others had been told to prepare for 5th October 2024. This is now looking unlikely and either 10th or 17th November 2024 probable, after the October half term holidays and before the Christmas travel peak
It is also rumoured that EES may have a soft start whereby immigration authorities at ports at very busy times will be permitted as an exception to allow people to travel whose biometrics have not yet been registered. This could continue for 6 months to a year
UK residents make just under 10 million visits to France each year it is reported so that is an awful lot of time-consuming biometric registration to organise and travellers should expect delays, possibly VERY long delays of many hours.
If that wasn't bad enough travellers using the M20 for Dover and Folkestone Eurotunnel can expect more frequent delays in both directions owing to the use of Operation Brock, the motorway contraflow system in place to regulate heavy freight and car traffic especially when at a standstill. This includes closure of the motorway at night for the concrete blocks to be placed. Motorists can and should automatically check the status of Operation Brock before setting out to help accurately estimate their travel and port check-in times. https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/operation-brock.
See also the Highways Agency latest travel updates here https://www.trafficengland.com/ as well as live traffic alerts from Google Maps and Waze
On the bright side once you are in the system, passing through immigration controls should be much quicker than the current passport stamping procedures and officials would only likely check either your facial scan or your fingerprints
An app is under development that may allow for the registration of biometric data away from ports and airports however such ground-breaking technology will require considerable development and testing and must avoid privacy issues. If the app is to be adopted by all EU/Schengen countries and rolled out it wouldn't be before 2025 at the earliest, if at all
It is also rumoured that EES may have a soft start whereby immigration authorities at ports at very busy times will be permitted as an exception to allow people to travel whose biometrics have not yet been registered. This could continue for 6 months to a year
UK residents make just under 10 million visits to France each year it is reported so that is an awful lot of time-consuming biometric registration to organise and travellers should expect delays, possibly VERY long delays of many hours.
If that wasn't bad enough travellers using the M20 for Dover and Folkestone Eurotunnel can expect more frequent delays in both directions owing to the use of Operation Brock, the motorway contraflow system in place to regulate heavy freight and car traffic especially when at a standstill. This includes closure of the motorway at night for the concrete blocks to be placed. Motorists can and should automatically check the status of Operation Brock before setting out to help accurately estimate their travel and port check-in times. https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/operation-brock.
See also the Highways Agency latest travel updates here https://www.trafficengland.com/ as well as live traffic alerts from Google Maps and Waze
On the bright side once you are in the system, passing through immigration controls should be much quicker than the current passport stamping procedures and officials would only likely check either your facial scan or your fingerprints
An app is under development that may allow for the registration of biometric data away from ports and airports however such ground-breaking technology will require considerable development and testing and must avoid privacy issues. If the app is to be adopted by all EU/Schengen countries and rolled out it wouldn't be before 2025 at the earliest, if at all
What changes to travel in 2024/2025 will affect UK and other non-Schengen passport holders?
Like many other developed countries, the UK is planning to roll out its own digital ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) system in 2025 to pre-screen visitors to the UK travelling on passports that do NOT require them to obtain a visa (such as EU citizens). Essentially, although these some 80 nationalities are not required to go through the exhaustive UK visa process, immigration authorities want to identify prior to their departure who people are, the purpose of their visit and to obtain some personal background information in order to assess whether they pose a terrorist or criminal threat and should be denied entry. All entries into and exits from the UK will be digitally logged
The UK model will be based on the European ETIAS system (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) which is now scheduled to come into full force in Spring 2025 and means citizens of visa-waiver countries, including the UK and the US, will have to seek digital pre-authorisation in order to enter the Schengen area (which comprises all European Union countries plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein but not Ireland and Cyprus partially)
