EES and France travel: readers share experiences as passengers
One reader reported border police taking photos of faces and fingerprints
Connexion readers share their recent experiences and feedback on the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES)
Shutterstock / David Ridley, Krzysztof Pazdalski, Stephen M Brooks
The EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) came into effect on October 12, introducing biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering or leaving the Schengen area.
France had stated that it would adopt a gradual implementation, limiting checks to two hours a day but we gather feedback from readers on what is happening as they pass through different French travel hubs.
If you have travelled recently please share your feedback on EES measures for other readers via feedback@connexionfrance.com
RC travelled on the 8:00 easyJet flight from London Gatwick to Montpellier on October 20.
“Border Police were taking photos of faces and fingerprints from non EU passengers as well as stamping passports. The pre-registration kiosks were not in action. The process had to be repeated at least twice because of ‘gremlins’ in the system and took around 15 minutes for the two of us. Fortunately my wife and I were first in the queue but there was a very long queue behind us.”
TS took the morning ferry from Ouistreham (Normandy) to the UK on October 12.
“We did not see anyone doing EES but there were more customs desks for passport checks. We live in France and have WARP cards [Brexit Withdrawal Agreement residency permits] and gave both to the customs agent with no problems. He wished us a pleasant journey. Not sure if we will get EES done on our return journey next week.”
NO travelled on the Folkestone to Calais-Fréthun (Hauts-de-France) shuttle on October 12, at 08:30.
“The new sheds for check-in were all blocked off and everything went as if EES did not exist. They talked of a start in November.”
IS flew to Nice on October 16, arriving 10:30.
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“There were eight self-service kiosks sited just prior to reaching the customs hall at terminal 1, all were covered so no data was taken. On the return flight (afternoon, October 19) there were another eight, just after going through the security/scanning checks, also covered.”
MM took a British Airways flight from London to Toulouse on October 20.
“No EES activities occurring as far as I could see. No queues, all flowing smoothly.”
AG also flew into Toulouse last week.
“I do not need to do EES as I am an EU citizen but the queues were slower than normal. They were being done manually by border police rather than using the machines. Each UK passenger was taking about two minutes.”
KF said that EES was “being trialled at Bergerac airport (outbound) last week.”
