 Poster: A snowHead
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I am not sure why EU countries cannot reciprocate particularly as it would be in their interest to do so...fewer staff needed,
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Many do. Portugal for example and have done for a couple years. My recent trip to Malpensa we also used egates, but they still have someone to stamp the passports (making their jobs even more boring). Oddly no one appears to have ever checked entrance and exit stamps with the single exception of UK at the channel tunnel. I think he was bored and fancied a chat.
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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 been through Grenoble airport yet? EES terminals active?
We are flying there on 3rd Jan, and I've heard that it was "slow" prior to EES, so just wondering if we should be allowing 2-3 hours between arrival and taxi pick-up?
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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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@Hurdy, for now the stamp in the passport is the one thing preventing the e-gates from being used. Once that is removed by the new system, it is likely that we will be able to use them again.
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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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@ousekjarr, yes you go through the egates then walk to the passport officer who opens your passport and stamps it. She doesn't look at anything inside it. It is no longer a skilled job. E-gates and passport stamping have certainly speeded up passport checks at those counties that implemented them.
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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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How is St Pancras going? We're there 17th January on an early train so trying to gauge how early we’ll need to arrive. I’m aware it might be different in a few weeks.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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UK passengers have been able to use the eGates in some countries and then have their passports stamped afterwards.
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How is St Pancras going? We're there 17th January on an early train so trying to gauge how early we’ll need to arrive. I’m aware it might be different in a few weeks.
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It was fine last week - they were taking prints from some people and not others and the queue wasn't too bad. The arrival time on the ticket was fine.
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@Shakira, thank you
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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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Geneva - my EES took only 20 mins, my friend on a later flight was well over 2 hours before the staff directed him to just go through passport control without doing EES.
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| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| Why are people so happy to be treated like criminals? Does no one wonder how all these "security" measures might be used against you in the future? How long before we are having to give dna samples at the border? Or what if the system gets hacked and your identity stolen? How many people use their fingerprints to access their bank account etc... |
I'm definitely never happy about handing over so much of my data and biometrics, but wanting to go skiing etc outweighs all that. EES is not much different to what I've been doing to get in the USA all these years.
Re fingerprints - I use thumb for my phone screen but EES is the other 4 fingers.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Phantom Phil wrote: |
| Geneva - my EES took only 20 mins, my friend on a later flight was well over 2 hours before the staff directed him to just go through passport control without doing EES. |
EES was but a minor diversion in the entire tedious and Brexit "enabled" queue for an actual manned passport booth when I went through GVA. If full EES actually enables digital passport capabilities to be routinely utilised in EU + CH then it's a win in my book.
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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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Not really been following this in detail (cos it won't apply to me with Swiss residency) but two friends of mine flew in to GVA last Friday and left today so I thought I'd relate their experience.
Arriving on a morning flight they queued for about 30 minutes to get in, but it was closer to an hour on departure, such that the flight was on last call by the time they made the gate (although this was easyjet who always do that last call about half an hour before actual scheduled departure. But I'll be sure to suggest to any non-schengen guests that they leave more than the 1:20 that my friends did from train arrival to departure time. They thought without an checked0in bags that would be plenty. Well, it was, but only just.
What's not clear is why one of them had to be fingerprinted and photographed but the other did not? Is this just a random thing?
Both of them have the 'e-passport', although the one not checked is much newer, just a month or three old (and both Manx, if that makes any difference).
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We travelled through GVA yesterday and there was no EES procedures taking place. Just went to a desk as before and had passport stamped. It took all of 5 minutes to queue and get done. Hope its the same on our return home in a few days.
Lots of automatic desks lined up but not in use yet.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Chaletbeauroc, you can get to GVA as early as you like, but it doesn’t help as the passport control only happens once the gate has been called and one has made one’s way towards the gate.
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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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@James the Last, Err no, I've often gone though security and passport control into the main departures lounge with all the duty-free shops _ages_ before the gate is even announced. Couple of hours on occasion, most recently in April this year ( I left myself a lot of extra time in case of any issues with my wife's ashes which I was carrying to the Isle of Man.)
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Chaletbeauroc, Err no you haven’t! Security takes you into the main lounge with the shops. The gates are grouped into wings called ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ etc with some extra- and some intra- Schengen. Only once you reach the entrance to the relevant wing is your passport checked, which is only once your gate has been called in order for you to know which wing to go to!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Chaletbeauroc,
What @James the Last, said is exactly what happened to a number of us returning from the Pre season bash. We were at Geneva airport many hours before our flight, but Swiss only announced the wing/gate 30 odd minutes before boarding - exit immigration in that wing was packed, and it was a mad rush to board at the last minute.
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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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OK, I've thought it all through again, and yes, there is indeed now a passport check closer to the gate. Was probably conflating it with earlier flights over the last few years and didn't really notice the change. The ability to go through the Swiss/EU line makes it virtually invisible, never had a queue of more than a couple of people, so not a queue at all.
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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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Often the flighty app will tell you the gate before it’s officially announced. Can be very helpful at airports like Geneva.
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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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Took a school group in a coach through Dover EES last Friday. It was fine. Took under 10 mins.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@boggyjo, That same school trip during half term will not be.
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@Chaletbeauroc, it’s not changed in years and years. There would be no reason for it to. Intra-Schengen flights do not require passport control and so are sent to a different part of the airport from extra-Schengen flights.
And there was no separate way through for Swiss-passport holders last week sorry. Nor did it have anything to do with EES. They just didn’t have enough staff on.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| ...And there was no separate way through for Swiss-passport holders last week sorry. |
Going to the C gates there definitely is (was last Sat). Swiss/EU split off right in the corridor before the queuing area.
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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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| James the Last wrote: |
| @Chaletbeauroc, it’s not changed in years and years. . |
They used to just do the passport check at the boarding gate, done by the airline staff, no official inspection of passports, no booths, no border guards. Not sure exactly when it changed, but within the last few years, I've been a fairly regular GVA traveller since we moved here 7 years ago and this was certainly how it worked for quite a while after we were here.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| @Chaletbeauroc, it’s not changed in years and years. . |
They used to just do the passport check at the boarding gate, done by the airline staff, no official inspection of passports, no booths, no border guards. Not sure exactly when it changed, but within the last few years, I've been a fairly regular GVA traveller since we moved here 7 years ago and this was certainly how it worked for quite a while after we were here. |
Probably changed after Brexit, since Switzerland is part of the Schengen area, so operates as if part of the EU when entering/leaving.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| James77 wrote: |
| @boggyjo, That same school trip during half term will not be. |
Yeah but the suggestion would be that it's not going to be made particularly worse by EES.
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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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@Layne, When you are queuing on the approach road just off the M11, need to complete EES as well as border checks it will be particularly worse. Simply a capacity issue. Just have to wait it out.
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Does anyone have very recent experience of flying into MUC (terminal 2 I think for BA from LHR) and EES? Trying to come to terms with another dance in the 'sunlit uplands'.....
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You know it makes sense.
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Salzburg v quick and efficient with multiple booths and all 4 of us were EES registered within 5 minutes. Took longer to get through passport stamping after of course...
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I've honestly no idea if we were registered the other week in Zurich. At the normal booth they took a picture and my fingerprints. They did ask how long I was staying but they often ask that. Then stamped the passport and handed it back. No material queue.
On the way out I didn't notice if they even scanned it, the lady just seemed to find the page & stamp it. If she did scan it it was very quick.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ok, utterly stupid question, but now we are registered, I presume that on subsequent arrivals into the EU, when shepherded towards booths, we should politely decline / try to say we've already done it?? Or do those same booths then become the entry/exit checker and you use them every time?
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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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Once fully implemented, any Schengen airport will include two types of facility: the first will be a set of individual security ‘gates’ for nationals and pre-registered foreigners (like at Gatwick Arrivals), while the second will comprise registration kiosks ahead of immigration officers in booths, for foreigners who have not registered previously.
In the interim, there’s a transition setup inbound where foreigners still use the registration kiosks before they see an officer, even if they’re already registered, albeit that once they’ve scanned the passport and been photographed, anyone already registered is not usually asked any more questions. They then go on to see an immigration officer who re-scans the passport to check that the kiosk hasn’t picked up an issue, and they stamp the passport. It should still be a bit quicker, as the kiosk scan allows them to do critical checks and flag up anyone of interest while they are queuing for the immigration officer. Then the officer doesn’t have to wait for the system to do checks etc and can just stamp your passport.
Outbound you just see an officer who counter-stamps the passport, since they don’t care who you are if you’re leaving.
Once it’s all operational across Schengen, the issue will be - as now - that not all airports would necessarily have all the kit and space they need to do EES efficiently. Just like now, some may opt to tolerate occasional long queues on arrival because they don’t want to spend the money on equipment and staff that’s only needed part of the time. For example, at GVA the EU/Swiss gates don’t have queues at the moment, while all the discussion on the forum is about queues for foreigners using EES kiosks and passport stamping. But under the final version of EES, if a lot of UK flights bring in repeat (already registered) travellers, then all that will happen is that they’ll switch to the gates, and there will be queues there if there aren’t more gates installed.
The only uncertainty in my mind is around the kiosks also acting as entry gates as well. The kiosks can do more (like ask questions and scan fingerprints) but they can’t stop you physically. Whereas the ‘gates’ won’t open to let you through if there is a problem. So the kiosks need a further step where you present your ID credentials again and are allowed through an otherwise closed gate. My guess is that the next generation of gates will evolve to combine registration kiosks + a physical gate mechanism. Leaving gate-less stand-alone kiosks for the facility that processes foreigners arriving without any pre-registration.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 18-12-25 11:21; edited 13 times in total
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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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@swoafs, I think @LaForet, is about right. Until its fully implemented we won't know for sure exactly how it will work in practice. In the meantime it's an unfinished system.
Going through Geneva for the PiPAU bash, only 1/2 to 2/3 were being directed through the terminals and the booths seemed to be checking passports just as thoroughly as ever (and being the major cause of the queue). So I'd say current practice seems to vary.
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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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Wouldn't it be funny (and fantastic) if by the time this is all fully operational, the UK has renegotiated it's relationship with the EU to the extent it's not required 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Do we know if Eurotunnel are using them yet...in either direction?
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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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If you think about it, the optimal arrangement would be just have a big bank of eGates and to one side, immigration booths. Everyone would provide what's required, but anyone rejected or not eligible to pass through would then have to go over to an immigration officer.
Of course, this wouldn't be 'politically' acceptable to nationals and similar, because they'd be mixed-in with foreigners who have to go through the whole registration and vetting process. So most sites have a split of nationals etc on one side and the rest to the other, with the nationals fast tracking through the system. But the equipment would still be the same. The challenge is to balance the flow so that you maximise the number of people being processed per minute. If you had a clean slate, then you could probably have a single array of gates but with some reserved for nationals, but with the capability to change the gate assignment to/from national/foreigner.
This ideal setup isn't going to be feasible at a lot of airport sites. So as mentioned, we'll have to see how it all pans out in practice, over time.
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You mean a solution like the UK has?
The optimal answer would be to balance risk v reward (in terms of queues etc) and allow low risk nationalities (in terms of immigration abuse) to use the eGates and higher risk nationalities to be directed towards officers who can as some questions. This moves low risk passengers through the airport quickly and allows for staff to concentrate on the riskier ones.
I have not seen the data (there must be some somewhere) but I am not aware of thousands of Brits being deported from EU countries due to immigration offences or committing crimes.
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FAQ
