 Poster: A snowHead
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And just been with other friends who flew into Turin a couple of hours after our other friends (see above) and there were no biometric checks so obviously the Police had had enough hassle for the day and called it quits.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Has anyone flown into Geneva terminal 2 yet with the new system? (Jet2 and TUI flights in winter season only).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Can anyone clarify? Am I right in thinking that once it’s fully operational everywhere, Schengen entry/exit will just be like the biometric gates I use when I return to the UK?
So all I’ll do is go to a machine, put my passport in and be face scanned and if necessary fingerprinted, and then that’ll be it? I’ll just walk through to Arrivals? Because if so, then it may well turn out more efficient to arrive with 20 machines doing checks than, say an undermanned human immigration facility where there are half that number of people doing the same checks.
Presumably, there will still be the need for human immigration officers, to deal with the cases that the machines can’t etc. and for a mechanism to divert people from the machine to an officer, versus just walking out.
What struck me at GVA on Thursday was that I could just have ignored the EES machines and walked straight to the immigration officer. But I assume that if I’d done that, their display would have told them I hadn’t registered first.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@LaForet, that’s the 64,000 euro question. For example will you be asked for a return ticket every time.
It will be 6 months after it is fully implemented when they stop looking at passports. I’m still convinced they never check the 90 day rule anyway.
My experience at malpensa was that they will still need a lot of immigration police still to check those passengers needing a visa and children
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@LaForet, that’s the 64,000 euro question. For example will you be asked for a return ticket every time.
It will be 6 months after it is fully implemented when they stop looking at passports. I’m still convinced they never check the 90 day rule anyway.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Any update on St Pancras and EES please? We travel out early on 17/1 so recent/current experience would be interesting, thanks
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@Montan, i went through st pancras the week before xmas, and they was taking fingerprints and biometrics, on average i would say it took a couple of minutes to complete per passenger.
queues went through fairly quickly
there were no separate terminals, for standard tickets anyway (allegedly there are some for business class tickets to pre-screen), it was all carried out by the French passport officer. she scanned my passport first, then requested my biometrics, no questions asked regarding finance/insurance etc.
i assume that if you have already had these in the system, she would have just stamped your passport then wave you through.
on return from Paris, passport was stamped on exit as normal.
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also, uk border control was just a woman at a desk between security and French passport, from memory it was just a quick glance at my passport, she may have scanned it but i cannot remember TBH
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| johnE wrote: |
| It will be 6 months after it is fully implemented when they stop looking at passports. I’m still convinced they never check the 90 day rule anyway. |
In the vast majority of case, they don't need to. All they have to do is look at the last stamp, which in >95% of cases is likely to be more than 90 days ago.
In many cases, over 12 months.
If someone with dozens of stamps turns up, they may count, but unlikely if there's a big queue.
More likely to pick you up on exit, when there is less time pressure on them.
You never know, they might just have to press a button to leave a note against your details for a later check?
If you are over, and they delay you long enough to miss a flight and have to pay for a new one, then lesson ought to be learnt.
If not, then a ban on entry will. 
(is it 3 years or 5?)
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@terrygasson, thanks - we're not already 'done' as haven't travelled since it was activated. I did have a flight booked over a year ago, to visit a friend in Spain, specifically to get the EES done ahead of skiing etc., but it was then delayed again. Hopefully, it won't add too much time or stress at St Pancras
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Montan, im intrigued why that trip to get EES done would help , i have been through various ees customs checks and there apparently is no " fast " route for people who have been through EES , as Brits we still have to queue up with the hundreds of passenegrs from our flight , In Budapest a week ago it took 3 hours !! .
If there is a benefit to having being done EES , i.e join a shorter queue i would gladly like to know .
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I don't think they will have a separate Q for those who are EES'd, have a long stay visa or residence permit. One can easily imagine the shambles of "I thought I'd done it etc etc".
I was EES'd biometrics taken at Geneva on 6 Dec.
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@gwatts10, to be fair to @Montan, when the EES was first being talked about here on snowheads, albeit a couple of years ago as since then it was getting pushed back all the time, there were a lot of posters, including myself, who assumed that after the initial processing, there would be separate lines for processed and non processed travellers.
so, the suggestion at the time was to go across to Europe during quiet travel periods on a cheapie flight etc, get processed, then it should have been quicker (i.e. avoiding the non processed queue) to get through when travelling out to go skiing when it is busy.
this may still be the case in the future for places like Eurotunnel, and large airports, where space may allow this. i am not sure that st Pancras can do it, as i posted yesterday, it looks like all processing will be done at the French passport desk, at least for the short term.
i assume that, for instance, if i was to travel out tomorrow on Eurostar, when i present myself at the desk, my passport is scanned, then they will see that my biometrics are in the system, passport stamped and i move on.
it may well work in the future, where a higher percentage of travellers have been processed compared to non processed travellers, so it may work with separate queues to accommodate this
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You know it makes sense.
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| gwatts10 wrote: |
@Montan, im intrigued why that trip to get EES done would help , i have been through various ees customs checks and there apparently is no " fast " route for people who have been through EES , as Brits we still have to queue up with the hundreds of passenegrs from our flight , In Budapest a week ago it took 3 hours !! .
If there is a benefit to having being done EES , i.e join a shorter queue i would gladly like to know . |
There is no benefit, they just said there was was so they could steal your biometrics and sell them to the highest bidder. None of this is being done to make your life easier!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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At the moment there is no benefit, because we’re in a transition phase. It’s not until most of the immigration points - at least the major ones - are automated that you’ll get any benefit. At that point, it’ll be like a UK passport holder arriving at Gatwick: if you are already registered, you’ll go to an eGate and if everything checks out, that’s it. If you’re not already registered you have to go to an immigration officer. If the eGate refuses to admit you, then you have to go to an immigration officer.
So the benefit for travellers will be faster immigration processing for Schengen citizens, and non-Schengen citizens already registered. And the benefit for the individual country is that their immigration officers can focus on dealing with more complex admissions, and catching criminals and drug traffickers, rather than spend hours stamping passports.
It’s a conspiracy theory to think that all this is just to harvest biometric data for retail. There are far more concrete concerns to be worried about regarding tech bros and internet services wanting your data.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The stable door on data and id capture has lost its ability to be closed a long time ago, everybody we post is registered ,any bad words or slight variation comes to the attention of some government depth.
My wife was involved in child protection , she was shocked by how much is noticed by government, in the case of child abuse obviously its a good thing but that isn't always the case. The only answer is dont use the Internet or bank cards etc and dont travel anywhere even in this country.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| LaForet wrote: |
Can anyone clarify? Am I right in thinking that once it’s fully operational everywhere, Schengen entry/exit will just be like the biometric gates I use when I return to the UK?
So all I’ll do is go to a machine, put my passport in and be face scanned and if necessary fingerprinted, and then that’ll be it? I’ll just walk through to Arrivals? |
I'd be delighted if it was that straightforward. We flew into Lanzarote earlier this week and had to queue to scan our passports to enter. Then we had to queue again to scan them at the e-gates. Then queue again to have them stamped by a customs officer.
And on the way home we had to scan our passports at a "3rd country nationals" machine then scan them again at the boarding gate (which took forever, with the long boarding queue) then queue to have them stamped by a customs officer; then, 2 metres later, show them to an airline official at the gate. So only the 4 passport checks.
It's a shambles! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Came through Salzburg airport today and there were terminals that they wanted you to use to register for EES. Worked OK for some but not all for no particular reason. If you managed to get it to work you were sent to a different queue for passports which moved faster as you just had your passport stamped as opposed to having to do fingerprints and photo. Not too much of a delay as there was just our flight, would cause problems with more flights arriving at once if they wanted to get everyone registered.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
| LaForet wrote: |
Can anyone clarify? Am I right in thinking that once it’s fully operational everywhere, Schengen entry/exit will just be like the biometric gates I use when I return to the UK?
So all I’ll do is go to a machine, put my passport in and be face scanned and if necessary fingerprinted, and then that’ll be it? I’ll just walk through to Arrivals? |
I'd be delighted if it was that straightforward. We flew into Lanzarote earlier this week and had to queue to scan our passports to enter. Then we had to queue again to scan them at the e-gates. Then queue again to have them stamped by a customs officer.
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Yes, but it is not fully operational yet. Until it is, passports still have to be stamped. Once it is fully operational at all entry/exit points, passport stamping shouldn't be necessary, you just scan it on the way in, and again on the way out (with photo taken, as per current e-gates here)
| Quote: |
And on the way home we had to scan our passports at a "3rd country nationals" machine then scan them again at the boarding gate (which took forever, with the long boarding queue) then queue to have them stamped by a customs officer; then, 2 metres later, show them to an airline official at the gate. So only the 4 passport checks.
It's a shambles! |
At the moment, it does appear so. Hopefully once it s all fully operational, it will be better.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| somborneski wrote: |
| Came through Salzburg airport today and there were terminals that they wanted you to use to register for EES. Worked OK for some but not all for no particular reason. If you managed to get it to work you were sent to a different queue for passports which moved faster as you just had your passport stamped as opposed to having to do fingerprints and photo. Not too much of a delay as there was just our flight, would cause problems with more flights arriving at once if they wanted to get everyone registered. |
That sounds hopeful. I'll be landing in Salzburg at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@ManiaMuse, did you find out anything about Jet2 / Geneva T2?
Please share if so, if not I can report back as we are headed to La Plagne via Geneva on Sunday 18th! Happy to report back how it goes of you are after us
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Flew into Geneva today from LHR on Swiss. Bus to terminal then long walk. Machines for EU side and no noticeable queue for non EU. As far as I could see no EES machines in use. Very few Swiss flights mostly Easyjet.
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| Bergmeister wrote: |
| LaForet wrote: |
Can anyone clarify? Am I right in thinking that once it’s fully operational everywhere, Schengen entry/exit will just be like the biometric gates I use when I return to the UK?
So all I’ll do is go to a machine, put my passport in and be face scanned and if necessary fingerprinted, and then that’ll be it? I’ll just walk through to Arrivals? |
I'd be delighted if it was that straightforward. We flew into Lanzarote earlier this week and had to queue to scan our passports to enter. Then we had to queue again to scan them at the e-gates. Then queue again to have them stamped by a customs officer.
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Yes, but it is not fully operational yet. Until it is, passports still have to be stamped. Once it is fully operational at all entry/exit points, passport stamping shouldn't be necessary, you just scan it on the way in, and again on the way out (with photo taken, as per current e-gates here)
| Quote: |
And on the way home we had to scan our passports at a "3rd country nationals" machine then scan them again at the boarding gate (which took forever, with the long boarding queue) then queue to have them stamped by a customs officer; then, 2 metres later, show them to an airline official at the gate. So only the 4 passport checks.
It's a shambles! |
At the moment, it does appear so. Hopefully once it s all fully operational, it will be better. |
Wow! Only 2 queues to scan our passports in future!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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My understanding is that on each entry to the Schengen zone non EU passengers will have to go to a kiosk to answer questions about their travel (but not necessarily give their biometrics if they enrolled before). They will then pass through an eGate or see a passport officer depending on the answers.
When leaving the Schengen zone I understand that every non EU passenger has to give their biometrics at a kiosk before going onto an eGate or a passport officer.
First time entry will take the longest as it requires the collection of biometrics with subsequent entries being quicker.
The system should be fully operational in April 2026 when all non EU citizens have to do this on every arrival and there will no longer be any opt outs (such as a Saturday in Salzburg etc)....
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@Hurdy, I think EES applies to the Schengen area not EU so Swiss Norwegians etc are exempt
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| johnE wrote: |
| @Hurdy, I think EES applies to the Schengen area not EU so Swiss Norwegians etc are exempt |
All EU members except Cyprus and Ireland, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Went through Salzburg today. They have a new building with all the kiosks in and passport booths. Took about 3-4 minutes to reguster, then about 5 minutes queue to get passport stamped. Plenty of kiosks, and pkenty of booths manned.
Then another airport bus from that building to baggage reclaim. Bags from two flight already coming off when we got there.
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| Montan wrote: |
| Any update on St Pancras and EES please? We travel out early on 17/1 so recent/current experience would be interesting, thanks |
Yesterday, some folk got their biometrics done, some didn't. It seemed completely random. More importantly, it wasn't the rate limiting step, which was getting through security.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Sun 11-01-26 17:22; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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Interesting to hear there is a new building with kiosks in Salzburg airport. We went in the same place in the main terminal we‘ve always entered but it was Friday with only a few flights.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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A couple of corrections, although it's such a dogs-dinner I could be wrong too
| colinstone wrote: |
| I don't think they will have a separate Q for those who are EES'd, have a long stay visa or residence permit. One can easily imagine the shambles of "I thought I'd done it etc etc". |
In GVA, since forever, third-country nationals with an EU residence-card can use the CH+EU channel. So not a separate queue, but a faster one! Brits (maybe others?) however can not use the e-gates in that channel, they have to ask to go to the CH+EU booth. There's no issue of "I thought I'd done it" for foreign EU residents, they do not need to be registered for EES to enter Schengen anywhere (although are technically limited to 90/180 in Schengen other than in their host country. But this can't be monitored). Simple innit.... 
| LaForet wrote: |
At the moment there is no benefit, because we’re in a transition phase. It’s not until most of the immigration points - at least the major ones - are automated that you’ll get any benefit. At that point, it’ll be like a UK passport holder arriving at Gatwick: if you are already registered, you’ll go to an eGate and if everything checks out, that’s it. If you’re not already registered you have to go to an immigration officer. If the eGate refuses to admit you, then you have to go to an immigration officer.
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Not quite, to my understanding. The right of third-country nationals (even those with EU residency) to use the e-gates is a separate deal to EES, transitional phase or completed (whatever that will be judged to be). It is up to each individual country to extend the e-gate facility as and when they see fit. Currently CH doesn't, apparently Spain does, I don't know about elsewhere. So an EES'd non-EU resident entering Schengen via a country choosing not to offer e-gates has to go to a booth. Whether that booth is in the EU channel, the third-country channel, or some other channel is at the discretion of the local entry-point.
For third-country nationals with EU residence-cards it becomes even more arcane, since even if the country does decide to permit use of the e-gates, the e-gates can't currently read residence-cards, so he has to queue for a booth; whilst his non-resident countrymen sail through the e-gates! Apparently the Swiss at least are working on this problem, although they say it's "very complex"! Who would have thought it.... 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| Montan wrote: |
| Any update on St Pancras and EES please? We travel out early on 17/1 so recent/current experience would be interesting, thanks |
Yesterday, some items got their biometrics done, some didn't. It seemed completely random. More importantly, it wasn't the rate limiting step, which was getting through security. |
It's worth noting that Eurostar are recommending arriving at St Pancras 90 minutes before departure but 60 minutes before at Gare du Nord. I assume this is because of EES but St Pancras was quicker on Tuesday than GDN on Thursday (which was good because Eurostar cancelled our train and we had to dash from the office to get one 90 minutes earlier). I didn't need to register though, I'd done that in October at GVA.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just travelled through GVA on Friday , no queue for brit passports until our planeload arrived , they had lots of officers on duty and the wait was barely 3-4 minutes , amazingly bags and boards arrived within minutes of reaching baggage hall , we were with our taxi 25 minutes after landing , but what was very noticeable were the 4000 x cases all shrink wrapped from the days previous technical ( not snow related ) issues .
On the journey home back through GVA , on Tuesday evening , the queue to get out was a bit longer , maybe a 20 minute wait , some brits were sent to usual office only booth's and others sent to officers with EES machines . I had to give finger prints and facial recognition . I mentioned that i had been through Budapest EES only 2 weels ago , so surely my details should be in the system , the office suggested at this point in the phased roll out that each country has to take the EES details , Im guessing that they will build up a date base that takes several points of reference and at some stage when they have enough data , the project will go into full production mode and you will be sent to the automatic EES gates , that scan your passport , check facial recog and if all is correct send you through quickly .
Its a PITA at the moment but its all being done to speed up processing in 6 - 12 months time .
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FAQ
