29 nations you’ll have to be fingerprinted to enter from November | UK | News | EUROtoday

Travellers jetting off to 29 locations from November might want to log their fingerprint to enter, following the announcement of a brand new registration system.

The Entry/Exit System – or EES – is about to be rolled out throughout the EU as officers seeks to strengthen border safety. An announcement from the UK Government signifies that almost all non-EU residents might want to create a ‘digital report’ earlier than they’ll enter any nation inside this method.

This includes registering biometric particulars, together with fingerprints and having a photograph taken upon getting into the Schengen space. All 25 EU nations, excluding Cyprus and Ireland, are encompassed on this, along with 4 non-EU nations. This consists of Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, in line with Parliament.

In a press release launched yesterday, the UK Government added: “British travellers will need to do this on their first visit to the EU after EES is introduced.​

“Their report shall be checked on level of entry into the Schengen space verifying both their fingerprint or {photograph}.” Although the EU has not yet confirmed a specific date for its introduction, it’s said the EES ‘should only take a few minutes’ for travellers to do.

The EES system is set to replace the current method of manually stamping passports whenever someone enters an EU country. Its aim is to automate this process to ensure people ‘do not overstay’ and to tackle illegal migration.

This change is part of a larger security initiative within the EU, which will introduce another new system known as the ‘European Travel Information and Authorisation System’ (ETIAS) by 2025.

The ETIAS will require anyone travelling to the Schengen area to submit personal information before their journey. A seven euro fee will also be required to ‘apply for authorisation to travel’ prior to a journey.

Aside from airports, the EES system will be implemented at certain ports in the South of England where French Border Force conducts immigration checks. This includes Dover, the Eurotunnel and St Pancras.

Holidaymakers are being advised to check with their travel operator if the EES could potentially impact their journey before heading to these ports.

However, the UK Government has stated that it’s been working with the EU to ensure the EES system can ‘take place as smoothly as possible’.

For instance, it claimed the ‘Eurotunnel will have over 100 kiosks’ and EES checks should add ‘just over five minutes to journey times’. Meanwhile, the Port of Dover will have 24 kiosks and the Eurostar will have almost 50.

The Government added: “If British travellers resolve to go to a rustic within the Schengen space once more inside a three-year interval of making their digital report, they may solely want to offer both their fingerprint or {photograph} on the border on entry and exit.

“EES will bolster border security for both the EU and their neighbouring countries.”

Is your vacation vacation spot affected by EES? Check our full checklist of nations under:

1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Bulgaria
4. Croatia
5. Czech Republic
6. Denmark
7. Estonia
8. Finland
9. France
10. Germany
11. Greece
12. Hungary
13. Italy
14. Latvia
15. Lithuania
16. Luxembourg
17. Malta
18. Netherlands
19. Poland
20. Portugal
21. Romania
22. Slovakia
23. Slovenia
24. Spain
25. Swede
26. Norway
27. Iceland
28. Switzerland
29. Lichtenstein