Attention all worldwide vacationers, enterprise jetsetters, and wanderlust adventurers! The European Union has simply authorised a provisional six-month phased launch of its recreation-altering Entry/Exit System (EES) — a complicated digital border management platform that may revolutionize how non-EU nationals enter and exit 29 Schengen international locations.
This transfer will substitute handbook passport stamping with excessive-tech biometric e-gate scans. But right here’s the kicker: it gained’t all occur in a single day! Instead, the Schengen area is easing into this shift regularly, giving vacationers, tech groups, and authorities time to regulate.
If you’re planning a visit to Europe in 2025 or 2026, learn this rigorously — it may change the best way you journey ceaselessly!
What’s Happening?
On May 19, 2025, the European Council and the European Parliament struck a deal to roll out the EES over six months, fairly than flipping the change unexpectedly. The choice was made to keep away from crashing IT programs below the load of simultaneous deployment throughout your entire Schengen Zone.
The EES is designed to:
- Log entry and exit information of non-EU brief-keep vacationers
- Use biometrics (facial scans & fingerprints) as a substitute of handbook passport stamps
- Prevent identification fraud
- Track overstays in actual-time (90 days in any 180-day interval for most vacationers)
The objective? Smarter, safer, and environment friendly borders.
Countries Affected – Who’s In?
These 29 international locations will take part in EES as soon as it absolutely rolls out:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
⚠️ Note: Ireland and Cyprus are not implementing EES and can proceed with handbook passport stamping.
Phased Rollout – What Travelers Can Expect?
Here’s how the six-month EES transition will unfold (after the official begin date is introduced by the European Commission):
During this era, handbook passport stamping will proceed in any respect factors of entry.
Important for Travelers & Employers
- Business Travelers: Short-stay enterprise visas and visa-free entries will now be strictly monitored for 90/180-day rule compliance.
- Frequent Flyers: Every leisure journey to Paris or convention in Berlin counts towards your keep restrict.
- Employers: Be conscious that worker holidays in the Schengen Zone could have an effect on the legality of future enterprise journey.
- Companies ought to take into account journey monitoring instruments and prepare staff on the EES to forestall unintentional overstays.
Can EES Be Suspended?
Yes. Countries can briefly pause EES operations throughout:
- Unusually excessive visitors
- Long border queues
- Up to six hours of suspension put up-implementation in uncommon instances.
When Will This Begin?
The actual begin date of EES rollout is pending, because the European Commission should nonetheless situation a ultimate choice. Once that date is confirmed, the six-month countdown begins.
References
EU Confirms Six-Month Entry/Exit System Rollout for Schengen Borders in 2025 FULLY FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS SCHOLARSHIPS SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
