British travellers have been warned changes to European border controls in nine months could mean them having their fingerprints taken when they travel to and from the continent.
From November, British travellers will no longer have their passports stamped whenever they enter or exit the 27-country Schengen zone as the process becomes digitised. The stamps became compulsory after Brexit to check that UK travellers had not overstayed the time limits imposed on non-EU nationals.
But that is now due to be scrapped and an automated entry and exit system (EES) will digitally register British and other non-EU visitors, the Liverpool Echo reports. The European Commission’s department for Migration and Home Affairs said: "EES will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers."
In a statement about the digitisation of the application process, visa facilitation organisation VFS Global said: “We are fully aware that the EU plans to digitise the visa application process, and as an external service provider to virtually all EU and Schengen governments, VFS Global looks forward to work with these governments to support them on their transformation journey.”
Each time a person crosses an EU external border, the system will register their name, type of travel document, biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) and the date and place of entry and exit. It will also record refusals of entry.
The 27 Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The EES was originally due to launch in 2022, but was delayed first until May this year and again until November. Britons and the nationals of other countries with visa-free access to the Schengen Area will be required to obtain travel authorisation in advance online through the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
