{"id":686239,"date":"2026-01-10T07:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686239\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T07:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:20:12","slug":"uk-travellers-warned-of-eu-border-deadline-for-rules-enforced-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686239\/","title":{"rendered":"UK travellers warned of EU border deadline for rules enforced today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the change Britons will provide four fingerprints and a facial biometric scan to a machine during their first arrival\"A<\/p>\n

A person uses the Automated European Union Entry\/Exit System (EES) kiosk. The system should now been in place at half the borders in the EU(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

British travellers visiting Europe are being warned to prepare for the possibility of even longer queues from today. The rollout of the EU\u2019s new border check tech aims to eventually speed up entry, but its expansion this month presents a risk of greater delays, according to travel association ABTA.<\/p>\n

Under the automated Entry\/Exit System (EES), Britons will provide four fingerprints <\/a>and a facial biometric scan to a machine during their first arrival, followed by one scan on each subsequent arrival and departure. \u201cAs more places introduce the system, and more passengers are processed through it, there is a greater risk that people will face queues and delays,\u201d ABTA warns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important travellers are prepared for this as they prepare<\/a> to go through passport control.\u201d The EU set a January 10 deadline for its member states to roll out the EES at half of their border crossings.<\/p>\n

Manual passport stamping will continue until 9 April, meaning double red tape. \u201cWe are also urging border authorities to do all they can to minimise delays. They have contingency measures at their disposal \u2013 such as standing down the system or limiting checks \u2013 and we want them to be utilised to help manage the flow of people,\u201d ABTA says.<\/p>\n

The Entry Exit System (EES) requires non-EU citizens to register <\/a>at the EU border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken. The rollout began last October and mean British passport-holders need to register on their first visit to a country where EES checks are operating. Registration is valid for a rolling three-year period or until the passport expires.<\/p>\n

The new system will be phased in over six months, meaning different ports may have varying requirements until April 2026. By January 10 half of all checkpoints should be in operation.<\/p>\n

On exit, and for subsequent visits to a participating country, travellers will only need to scan their passport and provide either fingerprints or a photograph at the border.<\/p>\n

EES will be a requirement when entering Schengen area countries including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. EES will not be required when travelling to Ireland and Cyprus.<\/p>\n

For travellers using the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or Eurostar at St Pancras International, the process will take place at the border before they leave the UK.<\/p>\n

The government has supported these juxtaposed ports (Eurostar, St Pancras; Eurotunnel, Folkestone; and the Port of Dover) with \u00a310.5m of funding for border infrastructure to make the change as smooth as possible for travellers. While EES is an EU system, the government has been working closely with the travel industry, ports and transport operators to help raise public awareness and understanding of the border changes.<\/p>\n

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, said: \u201cWe recognise that EES checks will be a significant change for British travellers, which is why we have worked closely with our European partners to ensure the rollout goes as smoothly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK and EU have a shared objective of securing our borders and these modernisation measures will help us protect our citizens and prevent illegal migration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, Keir Mather, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve backed our ports and operators with \u00a310.5 million to help them get ready for the EU\u2019s new Entry\/Exit System, ensuring they have the infrastructure and systems in place to manage the changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur priority is to minimise disruption for travellers and hauliers, particularly at our busiest border crossings. We\u2019ll continue working closely with European partners and local resilience forums to keep traffic flowing and journeys smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travellers do not need to take any action before travelling and the process is free. Registration will take place upon arrival at the EU border and may take slightly longer than previous border checks.<\/p>\n

Whilst the checks should only take 1-2 minutes for each person, they may lead to longer wait times at border control upon arrival in the Schengen area. At the juxtaposed ports, where registration will be completed in the UK prior to departure, there may be longer waits at busy times. Eurotunnel, Eurostar and the Port of Dover have plans in place to minimise disruption as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Children under 12 will not be fingerprinted but under the new EU rules, all travellers, including babies, will be photographed and have digital records created.<\/p>\n

The UK Government has rolled out its own Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is a digital permission to travel for visitors who do not need a visa for short stays, or do not have another valid UK immigration status prior to travelling to the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under the change Britons will provide four fingerprints and a facial biometric scan to a machine during their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699,1535,140423,140424,86833],"class_list":{"0":"post-686239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union","12":"tag-eurostar","13":"tag-eurotunnel-plc","14":"tag-folkestone-ltd","15":"tag-red-tape"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115869595994318815","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}