Overview

• Non‑EU short‑stay travellers will have fingerprints and a photo taken as passport stamping is replaced across 29 Schengen‑area countries.
• St Pancras has 49 kiosks that will ask about accommodation, a return ticket, sufficient funds, and insurance, with any “no” prompting referral to a French border officer and possible refusal.
• Eurostar will register business and premium customers from Oct. 12, expand to standard class on Jan. 12, and target full operation by April, with fingerprint capture starting for some sites in mid‑December.
• The European Commission says medical insurance is not an EU requirement, but France’s Police aux Frontières are applying an insurance check at St Pancras, and Eurostar says the kiosk text will be corrected to “travel insurance.”
• Motorists using LeShuttle at Folkestone currently undergo face‑to‑face checks rather than kiosk screening, and EES records will typically be retained for about three years, or five if no exit is logged.