Days before the introduction of extra red tape for British visitors to the European Union, officials are predicting hold-ups at airports. Yet an app that would allow travellers to pre-register for the entry-exit system (EES) is not yet available.
A six-month roll-out of the entry-exit system begins on Sunday 12 October. From that date, third-country nationals, including UK passport holders, may be asked for fingerprints and facial biometrics when entering or leaving Schengen area nations.
After the 2016 EU referendum, the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement made British travellers subject to the checks.
The UK government warns: “EES may take each passenger a few extra minutes to complete, so be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border.”
Romania’s frontier police have told The Independent: “We recommend that third-country nationals subject to EES procedures, especially in the context of air travel, arrive at the airport with extra time before their scheduled international flights.”
And Louise Wahlberg of Swedish police is warning there may be “some queuing for travellers initially”.
Most checks will be taking place at the airport on arrival from the UK. Large numbers of kiosks have been installed to allow incoming passengers to register their details and biometrics.
Many British travellers have been asking The Independent if it is possible to pre-register to reduce time and stress at the airport.
The answer: not yet, and – when an app is available – it will apply only for airline passengers to Sweden.
Frontex, the EU border and coastguard agency, has developed an app called Travel to Europe. Its purpose: to enable third-country nationals, such as the British, “to pre-register their travel document data and facial image for the entry-exit system (EES) before arriving at a border crossing point”.
Prospective travellers can register their travel document details and facial image for the EES within 72 hours before arriving in, or departing from, the EU and wider Schengen area. Visitors can also answer their destination country’s “conditions of entry” questionnaire in advance.
Frontex says: “Voluntary EES pre-registration is one of the ways to reduce processing times at the border, benefitting both national authorities and travellers. It does not replace border control procedures but aims at making them smoother and faster.
“Furthermore, it makes it more comfortable for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, or children, to register their travel data.”
Yet even though Frontex made the app available a year ago for member states to integrate into their national systems, it is still not available to travellers.
Individual Schengen countries can decide if, when, how and where they deploy the app. But so far the only confirmed nation is Sweden.
Swedavia Airports, which operates the country’s key international airports, will allow travellers to download the Travel to Europe from Sunday 12 October.
The organisation says: “Airlines and tour operators are encouraged to include information about the app and the possibility of pre-registration in their communications with non-Schengen travellers.”
The Independent has asked Frontex to comment on the limited take-up of the app.
Travellers with passports from the EU and wider Schengen area, or with residence permits for Europe, are not subject to the new biometric checks.
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