EES border checks will be introduced gradually for Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel travellers.
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The rollout of the EU’s long-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES) will begin on 12 October this year.
Given the challenges of implementing the new digital border system and its dedicated technology, the launch will be a phased process over six months.
Both the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel have confirmed that the majority of travellers departing from the UK will not immediately be subject to EES checks as they phase in the system.
The announcement has allayed fears of lengthy queues and confusion at borders on and around the official launch date.
Here’s what you need to know if you are a non-EU visitor travelling into the Schengen area next month.
How will the launch of the EES affect travellers?
The EES will be a registration system for UK, US and other non-EU travellers.
Travellers will need to scan their passports or other travel documents at a self-service kiosk each time they cross an EU external border. It will not apply to legal EU citizens or residents or those with long-stay visas.
The system will register the traveller’s name, biometric data, and the date and place of entry and exit. Facial scans and fingerprint data taken during the first registration are stored in the EES database for three years.
During this period, travellers will only need to provide a fingerprint or photo at the border when entering and exiting, which will be matched against stored data.
When will EES border checks come into effect?
The new system requires Europe's border crossings to have dedicated infrastructure installed. The UK government has reportedly provided Eurostar, Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover with £3.5 million (€4.1 million) each to spend on registration kiosks.
There are concerns that travellers will face long delays following the rollout of the EES due to having to navigate new scanning technology at all international land, maritime and air crossings in the Schengen Area.
To combat this, the Port of Dover will only introduce EES checks on 12 October for coach passengers, a spokesperson told news site The Local.
At the Eurotunnel, coaches and freight traffic will be the first to go through EES kiosks beginning 12 October.
Other traffic, including the thousands of car passengers who use the crossings each day, will be subject to the new system from 1 November.
How will EES border checks work for travellers?
Beginning on 12 October, coach travellers departing from Dover will have to go through a purpose-built Western Docks processing zone.
Passengers will have to alight from vehicles in order to register at dedicated EES kiosks and go through passport control.
They will then re-board the coach, which will be sealed and driven onwards to the ferry terminal.
There will be 12 self-registration kiosks for coach passengers, and 72 available for car passengers, the spokesperson said.
Port authorities will reportedly be able to suspend checks for short periods if processing times become excessively long.
Travellers exempt from EES checks - including EU/Schengen nationals plus non-EU nationals legally resident in EU/Schengen states - are reminded they should skip the EES checks and "go directly to the Border to be processed".
At the Eurotunnel terminal, only freight and coach traffic will be subject to digital checks beginning 12 October.
“Passenger vehicles will follow a few weeks later, with the exact start date to be confirmed shortly by the French authorities,” a media spokesperson told The Local.
A total of 224 biometrics kiosks have been installed at Eurotunnel terminals, 106 at Folkestone and 118 at Calais.
As at Dover, travellers exempt from EES checks will not have to pass through the EES registration area and will instead proceed directly to the border.
"When the vehicle arrives at the terminal, all passengers, regardless of status, check-in at the kiosk. If identified as EU citizens, the vehicle will continue its journey without entering the EES biometric data area," the spokesperson said.
Eurostar says there will be ‘no queues’ at London St Pancras
Cross-Channel train service Eurostar is already taking precautions to ease delays at the border. Facing overcrowding due to the limited capacity of the historic London St Pancras station, it is allowing passengers to board trains earlier.
Travellers can now take their seats 30 minutes before departure, instead of waiting in the departure lounge.
The operator says the measure will avoid additional delays for check-in, security and border checks when the EES system launches.
Eurostar will also double the number of border staff and manual booths.
There isn’t space for all of the new EES kiosks, up to 49 from 24, in their usual location, so they’ll be installed at various other places around the station, currently used by both domestic rail operators and the HS1 service, a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel.
Eurostar has also assured passengers that there will be “specially-trained staff available at all times” at the new booths.
The operator says it expects kiosk checks to take an average of 90 seconds per passenger.
Eurostar chief safety and stations officer Simon Lejeune told the PA news agency that Eurostar will take “full advantage” of the six-month rollout period by only initially requiring some frequent travellers and those with premium tickets to use the kiosks.
