Overview
- The Entry‑Exit System became mandatory on 10 April 2026 and replaces passport stamping by recording facial images and fingerprints for non‑EU travellers to create three‑year digital entry records.
- Implementation is highly uneven with some hubs processing travellers in minutes while others have seen multi‑hour queues, missed connections and local outages at airports such as Lisbon, Milan Linate and Paris‑CDG.
- The European Commission has authorised limited temporary suspensions and member states are using ad hoc fixes such as manual stamping and selective scaling‑back of biometric checks to relieve congestion.
- To speed processing the EU has rolled out a voluntary 'Travel to Europe' pre‑registration app in Portugal and Sweden that lets travellers submit passport data and a facial scan up to 72 hours before arrival and generate a QR code for kiosks.
- Experts say the problem reflects a scale mismatch because EES was designed for a few major hubs rather than roughly 400 airports; the Commission says the system has already processed nearly 80 million crossings and logged more than 35,000 refusals, and ETIAS pre‑travel authorisations are still planned for Q4 2026 with a six‑month phase‑in.