EES Delay

A snowHead

@altis, The EES machines are in a new building over in the Western Docks, a mile or so away from the Eastern Docks where the ferries operate. They were supposedly ready to go for car passengers for the 1st November last year, until postponed until "early 2026", since when there don't appear to have been any updates! Do wonder whether it will ever be implemented there.

A snowHead

Landed at Geneva terminal 2 this morning. No sign of any EES machines anywhere. Passports stamped and through to the baggage hall in 10 minutes, skis waiting, bags 10 minutes later.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Sailbad the Sinner, was like this for T2 in January. Can only think it will be closed shortly.

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@RobinS, I watched something a few months ago that said the facility on the Western Docks was for buses, after processing a seal would be placed on the door to allow transit through the Eastern. AIUI, cars would be processed in the same place as usual.

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@chocksaway, My reading of it back when we went beginning of November, expecting it to have just started was that car passengers would use the kiosks in the Western Docks as well - with some timing mechanisms to discourage stops in between. They haven't installed any kiosks in the Eastern Docks.

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"EU Entry-Exit System flags 4,000 Schengen overstayers
The biometric border system checks compliance with the 90/180-day rule. It began in October and is set to be fully operational from April 10"

The EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES), which began a staggered rollout in October, has already flagged more than 4,000 travellers overstaying in the bloc, the European Commission has said.
The system can automatically check compliance with the 90/180-days rule.
EES records when non-EU travellers enter and leave the Schengen area, so it will in due course replace passport stamps with a digital record that includes biometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans.
It is designed to detect overstays, strengthen security, prevent identity fraud, and eventually speed up border checks.
The overstaying figure was disclosed on February 23 when commission official Henrik Nielsen briefed MEPs during an exchange of views on the system’s early implementation at the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee.

Penalties for overstaying, even accidentally, can include fines, which in France are set at €198, and potentially a record affecting future visa applications.

Connexion - https://archive.is/uiygi

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I flew into Venice in January on an UK passport and used the EES kiosk to provide fingerprints and a mugshot. I flew into Malta this week and did the same. Should I expect the same procedure every time I enter the Schengen zone and, if so, for how long?

What does the current process allow border control to do which couldn’t have been achieved by allowing me to use the eGates?

After all it is free

Arrived at GVA this morning from LHR. Joined a v long looking queue around 9.45am but to be fair the queue moved quite quickly and we were through in about 40 mins. No fingerprint stuff going on (all those machines were off).

And yet in two weeks we are all meant to be doing it.

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Anyone know what happens if you go through EES on the way in but not on the way out? My daughter flew in through EES but will be exiting in a car on the Eurotunnel? Will she flag as an overstayer at her next entry?

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She will still have her passport scanned and stamped by French Immigration at Calais on the return. So in theory, there should be no problem as this will match the EES+Stamp record for the outbound leg.

Happy to be contradicted on this: I’m basing this on my February trip which was Eurotunnel car outbound and then a Geneva>Gatwick flight return.

I flew back from the Canary Islands yesterday and the EES introduced zero delay. We just had to use an EES terminal at some time before boarding - they were scattered in groups around the airport. The long queues to board were all down to the manual stamping required until EES+eGates is fully operational. There was one official and four eGates, so in theory, once it’s all operational, boarding should be 4x faster in terms of the immigration part. Then the queues will be down to the ‘plane not being ready for boarding and/or the design of the gate area and/or an artificial wait while SpeedyBoarding passengers are loaded.

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I think those hoping that UK passport holders will be able to universally going to be able to use the egates are going to be disappointed. The egates are not the province of the Commission in Brussels but the local border control folk. As I understand it there are no plans here in Munich (happy to be proved wrong) to add the UK to the list of those countries that can use the egates (which is practically every other 90 day country). Other places will make their own decisions.

I perhaps should have included the re-visiting criteria: my understanding is that once Schengen borders are fully electronic, then those re-visiting the Zone within the nominated period (3 years, I think, but it might be shorter) won't have to have go through human immigration control - as long as the location is set up for it. Once you're registered via EES then there's no need to repeat the process until the 2-3 year period has expired. You'll be able to use the eGates. Obviously, if a site doesn't have eGates, or they're out of service, then it's back to having to see an immigration officer before entry.

There is a valid point about this not necessarily being a processing Nirvana. Because the effect at many locations will be to shift the queues from human immigration stamping to eGates. So if three 'planes from the UK all arrive at GVA simultaneously, then even if 75% of those travelling have have registered via EES already, that's about 400 people. Given there are about 8-12 eGates then its probable that queues may still form, even if the prcessing is faster than at a human immigration booth.

You know it makes sense.

Knowing gva border folk at least the machines wont just glare at you when you go through passport control, not sure why they are so miserable, make French border staff look positively fun

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@LaForet, This might be wrong but from what I understand those responsible for border control at Munich airport have no plans to change access to the egates even when EES is fully implemented, UK passport holders will still have to queue up whether they have registered or not. I work with people who are responsible for all the various signs around the airport and asked them whether there is a plan to change the current signage, they asked and were told no change is anticipated for the foreseeable future!

A snowHead

A snowHead

I know it is becoming alien to print travel docs off (me included), but I think I'm going to just print and file the main details in the inevitable plastic wallet once I do my first EES quasi electronic entry. So far I'm still all stamps - albeit not in date order thanks to one border official stamping about 6 pages in.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Got fingerprinted and scanned for the first time at GVA this afternoon. Slowed things down a little, but reasonably smooth. For other left-handers out there it is your right hand (4 fingers) they want not your favoured hand.

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@Ski lots, yes, I noticed that earlier in the year in Tenerife.

I wonder if it’ll ask for your left hand the next time. It could be to speed up the registration process.

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@Canuck, my daughters travelled opposite way, out via ET then return via Lyon on Saturday, no EES at Folkestone.
I have just messaged them to see if EES was working at Lyon, I am still out here but travelling back via ET

After all it is free

Girls just messaged back, that EES was operational on exit at Lyon on saturday

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Fifth time into GVA this season. Landed about 1 hr ago.
- First four times: No queues, no bother.
- This time: Queue of at least 250 metres; 45 min wait so far.
- Thought we were nearly there but have just started zig-zagging... Sad

- Absolute misery.
- Still, I'm consoling myself with the fact we've taken back control and are putting an extra £350m a week into the NHS wink

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33l77k88vyo

EES at Dover and Eurotunnel delayed again - beyond the 10th April deadline for rollout, which was already over five months late from the scheduled 1st November implementation. Will it ever happen?

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Just taken 50 minutes to get through passport control leaving Geneva. 10 flights leaving schenghen in less than an hour and they started with one desk open.
Eventually opened another two but by that time there must have been another 500 passengers behind us.

Some people were getting their fingerprints and photos taken, some not. Seemed completely random. We were done at Verona in December but our friends haven't been done and none of us were picked this time.

Sitting on a two thirds empty plane that should have left 40 minutes ago....

The European countries, especially Switzerland and France it would seem, need to wise the f*ck up

People will start voting with their feet if they continue to offer a petulant, lazy passport control experience / nightmare

This is on them

You know it makes sense.

I flew out of Malta on Thursday. Mugshot and prints taken by the machine built into the side of the border control kiosk and then passport checked and stamped
Took not time at all Toofy Grin

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@stevew, I's been a few years, (admittedly pre Covid) but last time I came back through Geneva, there must have been 1k+ people waiting to check in with Easyjet. The queue snaked all round the check in area and out into the car park.*
Absolute security nightmare, and an easy terrorist target.

They were taking people out of the queue who's flights were already boarding. rolling eyes

(I think it was 18 desks, 3 closed, 2 on priority boarding, 2 taking people who's flight was boarding, and the rest trying to check in 20 flights an hour).
Impossible task.

The only reason I can see for this chaos is that EJ want to get all their flights out in the shortest possible time to minimise staff hours.

If check in for your flights open 2 hours before departure (gates close 20 minutes before this), and it takes you over an hour to get to the desk, then announcing gates early will make zero difference and you are probably going to miss the flight, regardless of any EES delays.

*This was the final straw with EJ for me. The BA check in queue was 3 people. I've used BA whenever possible ever since.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

EES was active at Amsterdam both entering and leaving last week, but seemed to be a hybrid system for the moment as they were still stamping everyone.

On entry, there are no e-gates for people using EES so it looks like we'll still need to queue to see an officer when it's fully implemented. Just presumably no need to stamp. Officers were asking everyone questions about purpose of stay etc, and also registering people into EES if they were not already registered. So it took a while.

On exit, EES and EU passport holders were all using the same e-gates, which had a really big queue. Partially because only 5 out of 12 gates were operating. There was an officer after the e-gates stamping only non-EU passports. Encouraging to see that EES can be processed by e-gates on exit, so perhaps it's also possible on entry.

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@brianatab said

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@skitrack, I didn't say that at all. I commented on that the gate announcements after having gone through security potentially not giving enough time to clear passport control and that the Easyjet checkin has been quite straightforward for the last couple of years.

After all it is free

The gates at GVA aren't finalised until the inbound flight has landed and parked up - and for short-haul that's typically only an hour before departure. That's why the departure gate isn't displayed till 45-60 minutes before departure. If the inbound flight is running late then there is a high probability of it being allocated an unexpected parking spot.

If you go to a (guestimated/predicted) gate before it's been officially displayed on the departure boards then there is a risk of you coming unstuck with a late gate change. If you're in 'Csomething' and have been 'stamped out of Schengen' and the gate is then announced as 'Dsomething' you'll be in for an even more stress-full time.

@stevew nested quotes Sad

. Corrected

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EES Delay

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