Americans heading to much of Europe will soon face a new layer of security at the border: biometric screening. Beginning Oct. 12, the European Union will start introducing its Entry/Exit System, gradually rolling out over six months or so at airports and other entry points across 29 countries, the majority of which are in the EU. Under the new rules, travelers from the US and all non-EU nations will be required to have their fingerprints scanned and a photo taken upon arrival. Refusal to comply means being turned away at the border, per CBS News.
The Guardian notes that the new system won't be fully enforced until April, however, "with border officials allowed to relax the rules to alleviate [lines] or chaos at ports after the system finally goes live." The EES will eventually do away with physical passport stamps, instead digitally recording each traveler's entry and exit, along with basic passport information such as name and date of birth. US citizens should anticipate these automated border checks and digital collection of their biodata both when entering and leaving the Schengen Area, a zone covering most of continental Europe, where border checks have been largely absent. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from fingerprinting.
The EU says the move is meant to bolster security and monitor who overstays. Biometric and entry data will be kept for three years, or five if no exit is recorded. Exceptions apply for family of EU nationals and certain other groups. In addition to most EU states, other participating nations include Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Two EU nations aren't taking part: Ireland and Cyprus. The United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the EU, isn't included in the EES, but it recently started implementing its own new travel authorization process.
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