Latest timetable for EES and ETIAS introduction

[turkeyfoot]

Hi
As per Simon Calder :

The official EES web site states "The new entry-exit system will start on 12 October 2025."

Timeline for EES and Etias

October 2025: EU Entry/Exit System starts across at least 10 per cent of frontier posts, with central registration of people crossing the border in or out of the Schengen Area. But the biometric elements – face and fingerprints – will not be mandatory for the first 60 days; it may be that some states do this anyway. Passports continue to be stamped.

December 2025: Biometrics become mandatory at frontier posts operating the EES.

January 2026: By now, "member states should operate the Entry/Exit System – with biometric functionalities – at a minimum of half of their border crossing points". In other words, a majority of visitors are likely to experience "double red tape": providing EES biometrics but continuing to have passports stamped as well.

April 2026: Roll-out of Entry/Exit System should be complete. Only when the EES is running flawlessly across Europe will passports stop being stamped.

October 2026 (or later): Etias may finally come into play. The EU says: "Etias is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026." But for the first six months this will be optional.

April 2027 (or later): Etias becomes compulsory, though with a concession that travellers without one will, on their first attempt to enter the Schengen Area, be allowed in.

October 2027 (or later): Etias is fully compulsory.

Geoff