What is the passport Entry/Exit System and when will it come into force in Spain and the EU?

NOWADAYS, travellers from outside the European Union get their passports stamped upon arrival as a way of keeping track of who’s overstayed their welcome. 

This system, however, is largely unreliable in terms of catching overstayers, is time-consuming, and doesn’t provide detailed data on who’s entering the EU and when, says the EU. 

Come autumn 2024, passport stamping will end, and non-EU citizens will be subject to a new exit/entry system (EES) that will require them to submit fingerprints and facial biometrics when entering the EU. 

Related to the EU’s long-term migration and security agendas, the EES system is part of a EU initiative to crack down on terrorism and cross-border crime, as well as streamline travel for non-EU travellers, and prevent travellers from overstaying. 

The implementation of the EES system precedes that of the separate but related Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which is expected by spring 2025, and will require non-EU travellers from countries without visa requirements (which includes the UK and US) to apply for and obtain an authorisation to enter an EU member state. 

However, neither of these new systems will apply to travel from the UK to non-Schengen countries Ireland or Cyprus, although they will apply to travel to non-EU but Schengen-member states Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. 

How will EES work? 

Since Brexit, the EU has considered UK citizens as “third country” travellers, meaning they are subject to the stay limitations standard for non-EU travellers: 90 days within a 180-day period.

Once the new system is implemented, non-EU travellers will have to go through biometric checkpoints upon both entering and exiting the Schengen Area. 

Depending on point of entry, this may look like added security infrastructure at airport customs, or passing through automated security kiosks when entering the Schengen Area via a land border. 

Travellers from the UK will be required to submit a fingerprint and provide a facial scan on their first entry into the Schengen Area after the new system comes into effect later this year. 

From that point on, upon each crossing of a Schengen border the EES will register the date and location of the traveller’s crossing, as well as a facial scan. 

A subsequent visit within three years of the initial registration will renew its validity, with each visit triggering another three year validity period until the passport’s expiration. 

Originally, the EES was set to begin in 2021, but has been delayed multiple times due to the IT infrastructure not being ready across the EU. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the EES start date be delayed until after the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is set to conclude on August 11, 2024.

The Independent has reported the exact rollout date of the new EES as October 6, 2024.

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