EU entry-exit system: Estonia is first country to be ready on air, sea, rail and road
First country ready for the EU entry-exit system rollout
- Estonia will be the first country fully prepared to implement the EU's new Entry-Exit System (EES) at all its air, sea, and road frontiers from 12 October.
- The EES is a digital border scheme requiring "third-country nationals", including UK passport holders, to register facial biometrics and fingerprints upon their first entry into the Schengen area.
- During the initial rollout, travellers from non-EU countries will face both the new digital EES checks and traditional analogue passport stamping.
- While Estonia's Police and Border Guard Board confirmed readiness across all its border points, many other Schengen countries, such as Germany, will only have a partial implementation on the start date.
- Luxembourg is the only other nation identified as fully ready from day one, though it has only one border crossing; Irish passport holders are exempt from the biometric requirements.