Europe Will Start Fingerprinting Travelers This Fall: Here’s What To Expect

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After many years of delays, it’s finally happening, my friends.

No, not the Electronic Travel Authorization, the other (equally) bureaucratic hurdle facing travelers when landing in the European Union (EU) in the near future—and this includes Americans.

The 27-country-strong block is gearing up to launch its much-postponed Entry-Exit System, commonly shortened to EES, as early as this upcoming fall, and for those of you who are still in the dark about Europe’s new plans, you better get ready for some stricter screening.

EU member states will start fingerprinting and entering your private information into their database for immigration checks from October 2025, and this is how it’s going to play out:

What Is Even An EES?

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past three years, the EU has been considering introducing an Entry-Exit System that will considerably tighten border controls, including fingerprinting all new arrivals.

This is not only to ensure the information on their passport matches their biometric data, but also to crack down on irregular migration, or even just overstayers.

As you might be aware, as a U.S. citizen, you can only be present in the border-free Schengen Zone, which comprises all 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, for 90 days out of any 180-day period.

In other words, if you fly to Paris, France, on May 1, 2025, and you spend 7 days exploring the City of Love and other medieval gems nearby easily-accessible with the TGV train, you will then have 83 days left to travel around the Schengen territories until October 28.

This includes countries like Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, and many more.

As of right now, the only way border officials have to know whether you’re within the 90/180-day rule is verifying entry and exit stamps manually.

You know where we’re going with this…

Once the EES launches, fingerprinting will make these checks way easier, as it will act as both a ‘check-in’, and ‘check-out’ device every time you cross an external European border, and any overstayers will be immediately flagged by the system.

And trust us when we say, if you don’t want to get a hefty fine, or worse, even banned from returning to the Old Continent, you should make sure you’re in compliance with the rules.

How Do We Know The EES Is Launching In October?

It seems that, following months of endless debates and back-and-forth, an agreement was reached by the EU’s Interior Ministers in Brussels last March.

In the words of the Polish Minister of the Interior, Tomasz Siemoniak, ‘October is our horizon‘ for the start date of the EES.

No official date has been set yet, but at least we have a month to work with now.

The one major roadblock is the various stages of preparedness seen across the EU: while some countries already have the technology in place and are ready to start the fingerprinting, others are nowhere near launching.

We have to remember that this will apply not only to passport, but all land and sea borders, and a number of European countries have multiple border checkpoints with non-EU, or non-Schengen states in the vicinity, that are not as well-equipped as an international airport.

For that reason, the European Commission is planning to be ‘flexible’, and allow for a phased introduction of the Entry-Exit System.

What Is The Path Ahead?

In short, European nations will have 2 options: either launch the system all at once, across all its checkpoints, or in a ‘phased manner’.

Those opting for the latter would kick off a 6-month transition period from October, and would be required to properly register 10% of incoming travelers after the first month.

For the first 60 days, they may also operate the EES without the biometric controls, i.e. the much-dreaded fingerprinting.

After 3 months, they must be ready to operate the system with all biometric functionalities, and they should finally be able to register ‘all people’ towards the end of the 6 months.

This will avoid any further delays, as it will enable European states to move at their own pace.

The wait is over, guys: get ready for some (more) border scrutiny by fall 2025.

How Will The EES Work?

If you’re wondering how exactly the EES will work, it’s simple:

You’re still required to bring a valid passport to the EU, and on top of that, it should remain valid for an additional 3 months beyond your intended date of departure.

Come October, however, once you scan your U.S. passport in an e-Gate, you will be instructed to provide your fingerprints and get photographed—this should take an additional 2-3 minutes for every traveler, and that’s considering they’re tech-savvy and don’t faff around, so beware there might be significant delays.

Once that’s done, you’re good to go, and you won’t have to do it a second time, or at least until your biometric data is stored in the EU database.

Based on what we’ve been informed previously, this might be a 2-year period if you’re not a frequent traveler, though that’s yet to be confirmed, and we’ll be sure to rectify this should it be necessary when the time comes.

As for the ETIAS, the new ‘digital visa’ applying to Americans and visa-exempt travelers, in general (or dare we say it, the other European boogeyman), you don’t have to worry about that until late 2026… at the earliest.

Worry not; we’ve got you covered, and we’ll be sure to fill you in on any updates on that front, too.

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