EU Entry-Exit Biometric System Now Operational in Most Member States

Portugal and Italy do not plan on exempting British nationals from Europe's new fingerprinting and facial scanning checks, the European Commission confirmed. The European Commission stated that Portuguese and Italian authorities confirmed they do not intend to exempt any nationality from the Entry-Exit System.

Greece has effectively suspended biometric checks at its borders for British citizens until September.

The European Commission is in contact with Greece to clarify the situation and recall the existing rules. Those rules allow checks to be suspended for short periods at specific border crossings in exceptional circumstances but do not allow blanket exemptions for nationals of specific third countries and for an extended period of time.

The European Commission was also in contact with Portugal and Italy, as with all Member States, on the implementation of the EES.

The European Commission insists the system has mainly been working well. The Entry-Exit System was first introduced in October 2025. It was meant to become fully operational on 10 April. The EES rollout occurred last month relative to early May 2026.

The EES requires most short-term visitors from outside the EU and European Economic Area to register biometric data each time they enter or leave the Schengen free travel zone. The Schengen free travel zone includes 25 of the EU's 27 member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The rollout of the Entry-Exit System has caused long queues at some European airports.

More than 100 people missed their EasyJet flight to Manchester from Milan's Linate airport after being stuck in passport queues. Passengers due to travel with Ryanair from Milan Bergamo airport to Manchester missed their flight due to passport control problems. Alicante Airport was pushed to breaking point by the EES change.