A new EU rule has made Brits reconsider upcoming travel plans as the Foreign Office has warned travellers of the extra paperwork.
Starting on 1 November, everyone entering the EU will need to get their photograph and fingerprints taken, as part of the new EU Entry/Exit System, or EES.
This is likely to impact border control queues, as checks will now take longer for many popular tourist destinations.
The system, which is expectedto be fully operational by 10 November, has made many reconsider.
“Some British travellers have already changed their plans to avoid the EES coming on November 10”, Seamus McCauley, Head of Public Affairs at Holiday Extras, recently told Express.co.uk.
“More are likely to do the same when ETIAS comes in since there are plenty of alternative destinations that don’t demand the new paperwork – Ireland, Cyprus, Albania, Turkey, the Channel Isles, Montenegro, Georgia and anywhere in North Africa like Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt, just to name some of the places you can fly to direct in one to four hours that won’t be adopting the new system,” he added.
The EES system is set to apply to people travelling anywhere into the Schengen Area, which comprises all EU countries except for Cyprus and Ireland, and the non-EU countries of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Upon their first visit, non-EU travellers will need to provide their biometric details, which will be kept as digital records for any future travel.
While border checks are projected to take longer with the new system, which will only be a few minutes per passenger, it is still unclear whether the new rules will affect the tourism industry in 2025, especially considering 2024 is expected to be another record-breaking year (especially in Europe) after fully recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EES is a similar concept to the US’s ESTA and the UK’s ETA scheme and will cost around £6 per traveller.
Information such as name, date, place of birth and home address, passport or travel documents, level of education, and current occupation and details of intended travel will also be asked in addition to the biometric details.