Calais to start EES digital border checks from October 12

Some travellers at the Port of Calais can expect to be registered in the new EES digital borders system from this Sunday, October 12, the port confirms.

However, the port will make use of the right to have a ‘progressive’ (phased) start, in which not all eligible travellers will be registered at once from day one.

The EES is a new system of digital checks for non-EU/non-EEA/non-Swiss national visitors entering or exiting the Schengen area. It will affect anyone entering on ‘visa waiver’ 90/180 days rules or on a short-stay Schengen visa (for up to 90 days). People with long-stay visas/residency cards are not affected.

The aim is to improve security and to better track who is in the Schengen border-free area and their respect of the 90/180 days rule.

However, to finally launch the much-delayed system, the EU this year passed regulations stating it does not have to start everywhere for all passengers at once, but can be ‘phased in’ over six months.

Each year around eight million travellers pass through the port of Calais, making it one of the Schengen area’s busiest borders.

What to expect at Calais

EES procedures affect people both entering and leaving the EU’s Schengen area. However the first registration after EES goes live, when a facial image and fingerprints and full passport data will be taken, is expected to take slightly longer than checks on subsequent trips when the traveller will already have an EES database entry.

At Calais, EES will concern those leaving the EU’s Schengen area to go to the UK. France-bound travellers will be registered into the system at Dover, where French border checks are carried out under security agreements between the UK and France.

So, from October 12 onwards it may affect people who were already in France/the Schengen area prior to October 12 and are thus entered into EES for the first time on departure. 

Moving forward, people who have already been entered into EES on arrival into France will also have (lightened) checks on departure, so their exit time and date is logged.

• From October 12 EES will affect all lorry drivers, who will be registered in EES at the point at which they pass the border guard’s booth.

• From October it will also concern some coaches – only 10-20% at first then gradually increasing. Selected coaches will be directed to an area where passengers will need to get out and use kiosks to pre-register in a dedicated building (the same building as already used for border checks for coaches), before the coaches then travel on to the border.

• Travellers in cars will start to be checked later, probably in November (yet to be confirmed). After having passed their check-in with the ferry company and before they pass the border guard’s booth, an agent with a tablet computer will come to the car for their pre-registration. They will not need to go to a specific area and will not need to get out of the car.

Process at Dover

Travellers coming from Dover to Calais will also be affected from October 12 with regard to lorry drivers and coaches, and from November 1 for others. 

Other than this division, the port has not stated any plans to phase in the numbers of those entered in the system progressively.