EES: Why am I fingerprinted every time at Nice airport?
Phase-in period is continuing and technical improvements are still awaited
Some border checks reported to be taking a long time since start of EES
Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock
I have had my photo and fingerprints taken the past two times I have arrived at Nice Airport. I understood it was a once-only requirement. What is the explanation?
We do not know the exact issues that may be occurring at Nice, but Connexion staff members have also recently described their own experiences with procedures there, including biometrics being taken several times.
We have asked the airport and are awaiting a reply.
As a reminder, EES checks, including the taking of biometric data (fingerprints and facial image) are required for non-EU/non-EEA/non-Swiss nationals who are entering or leaving the Schengen area and who do not live in it.
You may find that at present this is not systematically done, as we are still in a ‘phase-in’ period, but it will be increasingly the case as we near deadlines by which all eligible travellers are supposed to be entered into the system.
During the years when the EU’s new digital borders procedures were in planning stages, it was often predicted by the transport industry that ‘subsequent’ (after first registration) passages through the systems would be quicker than the first entry/exit after EES went live.
This was said to be because creating the initial database entry, including providing both a fingerprint scan and a facial image and passport data, was expected to take longer than the checks that would be needed once someone is in the system.
However, regulations setting up EES state that for ‘subsequent’ trips at least one of facial image or fingerprints should be ‘verified’ so as to confirm that traveller’s identity.
It was predicted that a facial scan was the most likely to be used for this purpose, however either is possible.
So, it is possible that Nice Airport has opted instead to use a check of the fingerprints – to see that they match the EES record for the traveller – which is the reason people’s fingerprints are being scanned repeatedly.
It should not, however, be necessary for both the fingerprints and your facial image to have to be scanned each time, and if this happens it would seem to be a case of overkill.
It is possible, also, that as the use of the systems is still bedding in – we are still in a phase-in period – the procedures at Nice are still being fine-tuned.
Finally, it has been hoped that in due course, at larger airports such as Nice, a combination of visiting a pre-registration kiosk (which are set up for facial and fingerprint scans) and passing through a ‘Parafe’ passport e-gate should remove the need to pass by a border guard’s kiosk, at least for ‘subsequent’ entries/exits after the initial registration process.
For technical reasons, this is not yet operative, but once it is, hopefully giving full data (including both facial image and fingerprints again) will not be required when doing this on subsequent trips.
Also, it should be quicker than queuing in a ‘non-EU’ lane to see a border guard.
If you have experienced this issue of biometric data being taken multiple times, whether at Nice or elsewhere, we are interested to hear of your experiences, via feedback@connexionfrance.com.
