The system covers Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Cyprus and Ireland are not participating; they will continue manual passport checks. Non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are included as part of the Schengen Area.
The rollout will occur over six months until April 10, 2026. During this period some travelers may still receive physical passport stamps as data collection ramps up at various border points.
Eric Rosen from The Points Guy described his recent experience: "Along with EU passengers, I was directed to e-gates that took my picture and scanned my passport, then I was still directed to talk to border patrol agents at a nearby kiosk who gave me a physical passport stamp," he said. "I asked about the rollout and they said it would be some time before they stopped stamping passports according to what they had been told by supervisors."
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol plans phased implementation beginning November 3. Other airports such as Dusseldorf Airport in Germany (DUS), Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) and Luxembourg Airport (LUX) began using EES immediately on October 12.
Travelers passing through these airports must now provide personal information including full name and date of birth from their passports. Border officers will scan four fingerprints or take a facial photo for storage in the Biometric Matching Service database. Children under age 12 are exempt from fingerprint scans.
Data collected by EES will record each entry or exit location and date for three years before automatic deletion. Travelers can request access or corrections to their records.
Some airports have warned travelers about possible delays during initial implementation. According to Luxembourg Airport’s website: "while the introduction of the new EES system may lead to slightly longer border processing times,the Luxembourg Airport teams remain fully committed to providing a smooth and pleasant travel experience.Dedicated staff will be available to assist passengers,and we will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure the journey through the airport remains as seamless and comfortable as possible." PRG's website advises non-EU nationals should expect "longer waiting times at both arrival and departure border control."
Further changes are expected with Europe’s planned European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), set for late 2026 implementation with an application fee increased from €7 ($8) initially announced to €20 ($23).
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