ETIAS Visa-Waiver Scheme and Biometric Identification of British passport holders entering the Schengen Area from November 2023
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 November 2023 and which 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)
Like its US counterpart ESTA, ETIAS is designed to beef up European security through online pre-screening while simplifying and modernising border controls by allowing travellers from 61 visa-waiver countries to enter the Schengen area without the need to stamp each passport in and out as a means of ensuring visitors do not exceed their 90 out of 180 days maximum stay allowance. Airlines and other carriers will be required to check passengers are in possession of ETIAS authorisation before allowing them to board
Eligible visitors to EU/EEA countries will need to submit an online application which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and automated approval should be granted also within minutes. ETIAS authorisation is valid for 3 years for an unlimited number of trips and the cost will be 7 euros per person aged 18 to 70. Minors and people aged over 70 need not pay but must still complete the form
The online application will gather personal contact information, identity, birth, passport, health, education, purpose of visit and itinerary information as well as details of criminal convictions over the last 10 years and credit/debit cards for the payment of the fee.
Using artificial intelligence the system identifies serious criminal activity and threats in the form of terrorism, sexual exploitation of children, human trafficking, drug trafficking, murder or rape by checking and assessing each application against international databases run by EUROPOL, EURODAC (Asylum database), INTERPOL stolen and lost travel documents, the Schengen Information System (SIS), Visa Information System (VIS) and the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) which exchanges criminal record information on non-EU citizens.
In some cases a manual review of an application may be required on a case by case basis if a flag is raised with a database hit or because information is improperly entered. Convictions for minor offences would not be a cause for refusal but there is an appeals process for refused applications
ETIAS's digital information gathering and authorisation system is complemented by the EES system (Entry and Exit system) which is the physical recording of visitor movements over Schengen Area external borders using biometric data and does away with passport stamping to identify overstayers and irregular travel documents
The biometric data visitors will need to submit are facial and fingerprint information. Visitors to the EU will not need to visit a consulate or embassy but details of how travellers will actually register their biometric data have not yet been released. Facial and fingerprint data will need to be physically registered at the time of the first trip using an ETIAS authorisation but once in the system with each further border crossing it should be enough to self-scan the authorisation at an automated kiosk.
Concerns, however, are being raised at the port of Dover where, unlike airports, they are faced with the impossibility of allowing car ferry passengers to step outside of their vehicles to be fingerprinted and go through facial recognition procedures on their first ETIAS crossing owing to the danger from moving vehicles. There is also the issue of a lack of space to create suitable port facilities for this data processing. Even self-scanning points will prove problematic if they are to avoid causing the exact same delays as are caused by the current practice of manually stamping each individual passport
Amid fears that border authorities will not be able to cope with the extra burden of biometric data gathering as the high tourist season begins the EU decided to postpone the rolling out of ETIAS/EES until November 2023 when tourist traffic is at its lightest and should allow time to address any teething troubles. There will be a 6 month phase-in period starting May 2023 before full implementation in November 2023 and it is thought that French border agents will be trialling the use of hand-held tablets to obtain biometric data without the need for passengers to leave their vehicle.
