Dover Port Reports 90-Minute Border Waits as New EU Checks Begin

The Port of Dover has reported waits of 90 minutes at the border as the half-term getaway begins. Officials asked ferry passengers to come prepared for delays during this first holiday period since the EU's new border system was fully implemented. Queues are not unusual during busy holiday periods.

However, the Entry Exit System requires border officials to create digital profiles for each traveler, which lengthens processing times even though fingerprints and photos are not yet being taken at Dover.

Since 10 April, the Entry Exit System has been in operation across entry points into the Schengen area. At Dover, French authorities have not yet switched on the machines that will take fingerprints and photos under the system. Border officials still have to complete part of the process for each tourist.

Setting up a profile linked to the new system means it will take longer to get through. The port says that if passengers miss their intended sailing because of delays, they can get the next available departure. Some 18,000 cars are expected at Dover between Friday and Sunday, with Saturday anticipated to be the busiest day.

Four hundred coaches are expected on Friday alone.

The Lydden Hill racing track will be available as a contingency measure to hold cars if queues get really bad, to avoid local roads getting clogged up. Border authorities are allowed to suspend the Entry Exit System altogether if severe delays build up.

The Port of Dover is asking people to only take main roads to keep the town of Dover clear, arrive no more than two hours before their scheduled sailing, and have their documents ready. At the Channel Tunnel operator's Folkestone terminal, French authorities also have not yet turned on the new machines to take car passengers' biometric details.

The situation is similar to Dover, in that border officials in booths are creating profiles for tourists, but fingerprints and photos are not yet being taken. Eurostar's hub at London St Pancras station is the other UK location where French border checks are done as people leave the country.

Again, border police have been creating files and in some cases taking biometric information, but most passengers have not yet used the automated machines. Greece has said British passengers will not face biometric checks this summer. At some airports, passengers have experienced long queues at the border upon arrival in recent months.