British travellers to face fingerprint scans on each journey to EU | EUROtoday

British residents might be required to have their fingerprints scanned each time they go to the European Union because of delays within the improvement of digital biometrics software program.

Every UK passenger coming into the Schengen space might want to exit their automobile to be photographed and fingerprinted individually. A spokesperson for the Port of Dover, which facilitates transit and commerce with nations like France and the Netherlands, instructed The Independent the plans might be rolled out within the autumn.

This is as a result of a brand new biometric entry-check system for non-EU residents was anticipated to be carried out final yr, however this has been postponed.

The Independent initially reported on the delay to the brand new system on the finish of 2024, with strategies that the demand for fingerprints might quietly be dropped.

Doug Bannister, the port’s chief government, instructed The Guardian will probably be “business as usual” this summer season however stated “a big change” in journey might be phased in from November.

An particular person’s fingerprint or an image of their face might be checked alongside their passport quantity on each journey. The expertise is being utilised to get rid of “wet stamping” of passports and allow an automatic recording of the length of tourists’ stays in mainland Europe.

In time, an app put in on UK Border Force tablets is meant to be handed into the automobile to confirm every individual’s fingerprints.

However, Mr Bannister stated the app, which has been developed by the EU’s border company Frontex, “won’t be ready any time before November, but hopefully it could come swiftly after that”. Frontex stated it was as much as every member state to implement its use.

Mr Bannister admitted “second, third, fourth time travellers still need to have a biometric captured at the border”. This signifies that passengers will nonetheless be required to step out of their automobiles each time till the app is prepared.

There might be important infrastructure enhancements in Kent in an effort to scale back disruptions to cross-border transport.

To accommodate passengers getting off automobiles and buses, the Port of Dover is reclaiming 13 hectares of land.

In an answer supported by the UK and French governments, the port stated it can create a digital system round 1.5 miles throughout the port’s surrounding space for checks.

Mr Bannister is definite that the upcoming inspections on the port, which handles as much as 10,000 vans and 15,000 passenger automobiles daily in the course of the summer season, would require solely an additional six minutes to every journey.