Which passport lane for travellers with French residency cards or visas under EES?

Many readers have asked if people who have a French residency card will be able to use ‘EU passport’ lanes after the EU’s new digital border scheme launches at travel hubs.

The lanes reserved for ‘EU/EEA/Swiss’ citizens are expected to be less congested as most people using them will not be subject to the new European Entry/Exit System (EES) formalities, planned to start on November 10.

EES will involve non-EU travellers (but not those with a French residency card or visa) having a facial image and fingerprints scan taken, and their passport details entered into a database on first entry after that date.

In some transport hubs there will be pre-registration kiosks prior to the passport queues, which are hoped to ease formalities at the border guard’s desk, but there will still be some extra procedures at the desk as compared to now.

Also, at small airports there will be no kiosks, and at French ferry ports pre-registration will be done in ordinary car lanes approaching passport booths, with workers presenting tablet computers to people in their cars in the ‘non-EU’ lanes – thus likely increasing the waiting time in these queues.

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It is thought that ‘EU’ passport lanes, whether at ports or airports, are likely to move more quickly, even though non-EU family members of EU citizens, who can use these queues, will still be concerned by the EES process.

The rules on passport lanes

So, is it permitted for non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens who live in the EU with a long-stay visa or residency card to use ‘EU’ lanes?

Unfortunately, while these people will not be directly concerned with registration in the EES – as it is designed to monitor comings and goings of foreign non-EU visitors, not full-time residents - they do not have a right to use lanes marked ‘EU/EEA/Swiss’.

The Schengen Borders Code states in article 10 that these lanes are reserved to “persons enjoying the right of free movement under Union law”.

It further adds that non-EU nationals benefiting from a short-stay visa waiver for the EU (such as Britons and Americans) and people who hold long-stay visas, may only use lanes marked ‘other passports’ or – where these exist – ‘visa not required’.

The latter are not common in France in our experience.

There has been no news to suggest this rule is set to change due to EES - in fact the Schengen Border Code was updated only this year, in anticipation of the start of EES.

What about Britons with a Brexit WA card?

Questions have been asked as to whether the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) confers on Britons the equivalent of EU free movement and therefore means that they can use ‘EU’ lanes, at least for entry or exit to/from the country where they are residents.

A first point to consider is that while the WA does confer a comparable right to EU citizens with regard to freely entering and leaving their specific country of residency, WA Britons do not “enjoy the right of free movement under Union law”, which is a broader concept.

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Justine Wallington, the co-chair of the Rift group for Britons in France, said they had discussed the point in depth with Your Europe, an advice service for the public provided by the EU.

She said: “They went through the rules - Schengen handbook, EU Council’s Working Party on Frontiers, the EU Commission guide and the French government’s Brexit site and all confirmed the same that WA beneficiaries have to use the ‘all passports’ or ‘visa not required’ lanes and not EU/EEA/Swiss lanes.”

This was also spelt out in a Council of the European Union document last year, which said without ambiguity: “Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries have to use the 'all passports' or 'visa not required' lanes.”

Ms Wallington said it is possible that in reality, at busy times, some guards will waive WA cardholders into the 'EU' queue to speed things up - depending on their own logistics and staffing on the day - "but the law doesn't allow it to be systematic, so it's not a right".

What about Parafe passport e-gates?

In France’s largest airports and for Eurostar and Eurotunnel, France currently allows many non-EU nationals, including Britons and Americans, to use ‘Parafe’ e-gates, although short-stay visitors are expected to look out for an official who can stamp their passport afterwards to monitor respect of the 90/180 days rule.

There are hopes that these gates will be adapted so that, at least on subsequent entries and exits (after a person has established an EES database entry), American, British etc visitors may be able to continue to use these as opposed to having to pass by a border guard’s desk for EES-related checks.

Eurostar has confirmed this, saying that for subsequent journeys travellers will have to go to one of the pre-registration kiosks for facial recognition and to answer one of the previously answered four travel questions but they will then be able to go through a Parafe gate. 

However, there is doubt about the readiness at airports for the planned November start, according to Union des Aéroports de France.

The French have not confirmed yet if measures will be taken so that non-EU citizens who are residents in an EU country such as France can also continue to enter and exit via Parafe gates, without this causing technical bugs due to their non-EU passport and lack of registration in EES.