EU to require facial and fingerprint biometrics for Britons in 2024

09-01-24

British travelers will be required to have their fingerprints scanned and their image captured when they enter the European Union next fall 2024

British travelers will be required to scan their fingerprints and capture their image when they enter the European Union next fall 2024, according to new rules that are part of the upcoming entry/exit system (EES), which applies to passport holders from outside the European bloc and is scheduled to launch on October 6, 2024, after being postponed from the initial date of May 2023.

Biometric data from fingerprints and facial images will be captured on a passenger's first entry into the EU from October 6 and verified on each subsequent visit; according to a report in The Times, picked up by BusinessTravell.

Getlink, the Channel Tunnel operator, is also building a new £67 million (€77.4 million) facility in Kent to process non-EU passport holders. The new infrastructure will be able to handle 500 cars every hour.

The European Union describes the EES as "an automated computerized system for registering third-country travelers, both short-stay visa holders and visa-exempt travelers, each time they cross an external EU border" and will replace manual stamping of passports. In addition to biometrics, the system will also record the person's name, type of travel document and date and place of entry and exit.

The article adds that passengers will have to leave their cars and use new computer terminals to register their biometric data before passing through French border control. As for air travel, the article says that British passengers will register their biometric data upon arrival in the EU.

The new rules are expected to cause queues and delays at places such as Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and the Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras.

The EES will also be followed by a new visa waiver system, the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), which is expected to launch in mid-2025, after several delays. The system is designed for travelers from third countries who want to enter Europe's Schengen area.