Foreign families urged to plan now for Christmas travel document

Non-EU foreign families living in France should prioritise applications for ‘DCEM’ travel documents for their children to avoid the risk of border complications once the EU's new digital borders systems start later this year.

The European Entry/Exit System (EES) is now set to begin in October, but EU countries may choose to 'phase it in'. This is likely to be the case in France. 

This means that EES may not start at all of France's external Schengen borders at the same time, or at first only for some passengers and not others. However, a precise rollout schedule for France is not available so it is safest to assume that EES will be operating from around mid-October, 2025 wherever people enter France from outside Schengen or leave to go to a non-Schengen state.

In particular, it is very likley to be operational at many borders by Christmas 2025, also coinciding with many families' plans for travel abroad.

Once the new borders scheme is operational, all non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen visitors will have to register details in a database, including giving passport information plus a fingerprint scan and facial image, to log their comings and goings from the Schengen area. 

Non-EU/EES/Swiss citizens who live in France will be exempt from having to register but will to carry their residency cards as proof. Families with members aged under 18, who do not usually have their own residency cards, have been advised to obtain DCEMs for them instead. 

For those that have not yet applied, time is of the essence if they are plannning to travel around the end of this year. 

The requirement for DCEMs will apply from birth and usually up to age 18 and one is needed for each child.

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The process of applying for a document de circulation pour étranger mineur (DCEM) – a young foreign person’s travel document – is not simple and, one support group reports, can take several months to process at some prefectures. 

Depending on your exact family circumstances, nationality and what supporting documents you already have to hand, it could cost from tens to several hundred of euros for a couple with two children. Birth or marriage certificates, if required, need to be translated into French by a sworn translator, whose fees vary but are about €70 per document. 

You can find more details on how to apply at this link. 

The British Ambassador to France, Dame Menna Rawlings, previously told The Connexion that it is going to be important for children to have a DCEM so their families can prove they do not need to be registered in the European Entry/Exit System (EES) when it starts (this is still official UK Foreign Office advice). The start date has been put off several times previously (the last target date was November 10, 2024) but EU sources now say October 12 is now definitive. 

Among previous hold-ups was the fact that several countries, including France, said they were 'not ready'. That has now been resolved.

EES will affect non-EU/EEA/Swiss people who are visiting (not living in) the EU’s Schengen area and it will log personal information and details of their trip, as well as, on the first entry or exit to the area after it starts, a facial image and a scan of their fingerprints.

It is intended to remove the need for passport stamps as it will automatically log entry and exit from the area and monitor respect of the 90/180 days rule.

Those with long-stay visas and/or residency cards will not be affected. However under-18s in such families do not usually have their own residency documents and instead their rights are linked to their family’s rights. For this reason when they travel it is advised that they have a DCEM with them to prove they are residents.

Formerly this was considered optional for nationalities with a short-stay visa waiver for France, such as Americans, British, Canadians etc, though advisable to avoid unnecessary passport stamping, but it is now going to be essential, Dame Menna said.

The co-chair of the Rift group for Britons in France, Justine Wallington, said Rift had originally called for children to have their own WA residency cards, to avoid any such border issues, however that had not been taken up.

The group feels it is unfortunate that families thus need to go through a more complex process to obtain travel paperwork for their child than was required for adult WA Britons to obtain their full residency cards.

She said in her experience, and based on feedback from their members, “you do need to include all the evidence listed – most prefectures are insisting on this”.

“I have raised the fact that this is an admin-heavy process with the European Commission," she said.

“The only plus for WA beneficiaries is that the DCEMs are free – however translations are not.

“They will be needed for all children otherwise they will have to go through EES biometrics process.”