After the UK voted to leave the European Union, Boris Johnson’s government negotiated for British travellers to become “third-country nationals subject to a range of restrictions. British passport holders must now have their travel documents inspected and stamped.
The next steps, set to be introduced in November 2024, will involve more red tape.
The European Union will launch an “entry-exit system” (EES) that will record the movements of non-EU visitors to the Schengen Area (comprising all EU nations except Cyprus and Ireland, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland).
The good news: passport stamping will end. The bad news: every traveller must, in theory at least, be fingerprinted and provide a facial biometric.
Shortly afterwards – in mid-2025, according the latest plan – prospective UK visitors to the Schengen Area will have to apply online for permission to enter.
The Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) is the next step in tightening frontier controls. When it is introduced, the €7 (£6) online permit will be valid for three years.
What is the “entry-exit system”?
EES is an automated Schengen Area IT system for registering citizens from outside the zone and the EU.
The system is aimed at such travellers when they either enter or leave at an external Schengen border – such as flying from the UK to Spain or crossing by road from Greece to Turkey. It will not be used at internal frontiers within the Schengen area.
EES will register the date and place of entry or exit, plus fingerprints and a facial biometric.
This system, says the European Union, “will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings, and does not allow a systematic detection of over-stayers”.
British travellers, like other “third-country nationals,” are restricted to 90 days’ stay in any 180 days within the Schengen area. But enforcement of this currently depends on checking passport stamps and is applied haphazardly.
The new system will not apply in Ireland or Cyprus, but citizens of those countries will not face onerous checks when entering the Schengen Area; as now, they will simply be matched with their passport or ID card.
When will EES start?
Originally the entry-exit system was due to start in…
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