New changes will occur for those travelling in the EU from October 2025. Instead of getting your passport stamped, this will now be replaced by biometric checks from October 12.
Officials have confirmed the new plans which were due to happen last November but instead faced delays. The new system will replace paper checks and will mean passengers now have to have their fingerprints and faces scanned at the EU border.
The so-called Entry/Exit System (EES) was pushed back at the last minute after several countries said they were not ready.
The scheme will not be fully implemented until April 10 2026 but it will first be rolled out across member nations over six months. First agreed on in 2017, the automated system will be used in the EU’s 27 countries from 12 October with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus.
People from the UK will need to register their biometric data with passport details to enter an EU country.
If you refuse to provide biometric data, you will be denied entry into the EU.
Whether you are travelling by plane, boat or train, there will be places for scanning your fingerprint and taking a photo.
This will be valid for three years once you have initially provided the data. After this, the process will be much quicker as you will only need to get your data verified when travelling.
If you overstay the 90 day limit without a visa, your data will be held for five years instead of three.
The reason behind the new rules is to help tighten border security.
Some are worried about long queues which may form when the system is first introduced as providing data and checks can take several minutes.
Despite the concerns, the EU has said that once checks are initially done, the new scheme will shorten wait times overall.
