Last updated on 8 October 2025

The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the following European countries using the system:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

For the purpose of the EES, ‘non-EU national’ means a traveller not holding the nationality of any European Union country or the nationality of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

‘Short stay’ means up to 90 days within any 180-day period. This period is calculated as a single period for all the European countries using the EES.

The new Entry/Exit System (EES) will start operations on 12 October 2025. European countries using the EES will introduce the system gradually at their external borders. This means that data collection will be gradually introduced at border crossing points with full implementation by 10 April 2026. For more information – see What does progressive start of the EES mean?

Brochure

Data held by EES

Presentation from the technical media briefing

Which countries’ nationals must be registered in the EES?

The system applies to you if you are a non-EU national who either:

  • need a short-stay visa to travel to the European countries using the EES 

or

  • do not need a visa to travel for a short stay in the European countries using the EES

Your entries and exits, or entry refusals will be electronically registered in the EES.

Exemptions to registration in the EES apply – see To whom does the EES not apply?

  1. Making Border Checks More Modern and Efficient: The EES will gradually replace passport stamps with a digital system that records when travellers enter and exit, making border checks faster and helping staff to work more efficiently.
  2. Making Travel Across Borders Easier and Faster: With EES, travellers will spend less time at the border thanks to faster checks, self-service options, and the possibility to give their information in advance.
  3. Preventing Irregular Migration: The EES will help track who comes in and out of the Schengen Area, using fingerprint and face data to stop people from overstaying, using fake identities or misusing visa-free travel.
  4. Increasing the security in the Schengen Area: The EES will give border officers and law enforcement authorities access to important traveller information, helping them to spot security risks and support the fight against serious crimes and terrorism.

You can use the “short-stay calculator” as a helping tool to check the duration of your authorised stay. The result of this calculator does not confer a right to stay for the calculated period.

You can also ask the passport control officers at external borders for this information.

If you arrive at a border crossing point for the first time since the EES started

You will have to provide your personal data. Passport control officers will scan your fingerprints or take a photo of your face. This information will be recorded in a digital file.

This process can be quicker if you register some of your data in advance. You can do this by using:

  • the dedicated equipment (“self-service system”), if available at your border crossing point; and/or
  • a mobile application – if made available by the country of arrival or departure.

In any of the instances above, you will meet a passport control officer.

If you have crossed the borders of the European countries using the EES more than once since the EES started

Your fingerprints or the photo of your face will already be recorded in the EES. 
The passport control officers will only verify your fingerprints and photo, which will take less time. In rare cases, it may be necessary to collect and record your data again. 

If you hold a biometric passport, you will be able to enter more quickly using the self-service system (if available at that border crossing point). 

Please be aware that all the other conditions for entry or exit remain valid and passport control officers may, at any time, take measures as necessary, such as collecting again the image of your face, etc.

  • Nationals of the European countries using the EES, as well as Cyprus and Ireland
  • Non-EU nationals who hold a residence card and are immediately related to an EU national
  • Non-EU nationals who hold a residence card or a residence permit and are immediately related to a non-EU national who can travel throughout Europe like an EU citizen
  • Non-EU nationals travelling to Europe as part of an intra-corporate transfer or for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au-pairing
  • Holders of residence permits and long-stay visas
  • Nationals of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino and holders of a passport issued by the Vatican City State or the Holy See
  • People exempt from border checks or who have been granted certain privileges with respect to border checks (such as heads of state, cross-border workers, etc.)
  • People not required to cross external borders solely at border crossing points and during fixed opening hours
  • People holding a valid local border traffic permit
  • Crew members of passenger and goods trains on international connecting journeys
  • People holding a valid Facilitated Rail Transit Document or valid Facilitated Transit Document, provided they travel by train and do not disembark anywhere within the territory of an EU Member State