EU countries are planning a transition to the Entry/Exit System (EES) by the end of this year. The European Commission promises that the new procedure will not mean automatic denial of entry if a tourist does not have a biometric passport.
EES’s work involves registering tourists every time they cross the EU border in any direction. The system will store personal data, purposes, and dates of the trip, as well as several other information. When a traveler first enters after the system starts working, his biometric data will be included in it. The tourist will be photographed at the border and fingerprinted. The received data will be stored in the system for three years. Officially, a passport with biometric data – a chip – will also be required to enter the EU. However, holders of a “regular” passport, valid for 5 years, are promised not to be automatically denied entry.
The European Commission clarified that if a tourist has a valid Schengen visa and an identity document with the right to cross the border, that is, fulfilling all the conditions of the Schengen Border Code, he will not need a biometric passport.
The border crossing procedure itself will also change. In the first stage, the tourist must independently register his data in the system. The second stage will resemble the current procedure and will end with receiving an entry stamp from a border patrol officer.
As for possible refusal, everything will be decided individually in each case. The European Commission explained that if a traveler does not want to provide biometric data and is refused, a corresponding entry will appear in the EES, which will be visible to all participants in the system. However, there are no long-term consequences for tourists in this case.
The exact dates for the transition of EU countries to EES have not yet been announced. According to some media reports, this may happen on October 6. Only Ireland has not officially joined the EES.