EES: Our Experience
In my article on the new EES (Entry/Exit System) I mentioned I’d report back what we experienced entering and exiting the Schengen Area. Since I have a European passport and don’t use my Australian passport to enter the Schengen Area, I would not have experienced what was described in the article I wrote back in October, but my wife Sharon would. She only has an Australian passport (for the moment).
We had entered the UK at Heathrow which required an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation), duly done a few months earlier. The ETA is not connected or has anything to do with the European EES or the ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) that will come into effect later in 2026. The UK and the EU (or those in the Schengen Area) have their own security checks as well as fees where (and when) applicable, etc.
We used the e-Gates at Heathrow and had no issues, all done automatically, no manual checks for the ETA. When we left the UK and flew to Pisa, Italy, I thought perhaps Sharon would have to go through that process described in my article, a photo and fingerprint taken.
On arrival in Pisa at Immigration, we separated, I went to the European passport holders lane with the e-Gates while she went to the other queue for all other passports. There were more people there but she went through quicker than me, even though she got her passport looked at and all checked manually. I looked at one of the border guards and asked why so slow with e-Gates, he just shrugged his shoulders.
So basically all that fuss about long queues and issues with travellers, which I wasn’t expecting at Pisa anyway since it is a small regional airport, never eventuated. Face photos and fingerprints weren’t taken.
On departure from Italy at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, we both used e-Gates. Again we separated. Me: the European (Schengen) queue; Sharon: the Australia, UK, USA, Canada, NZ, Singapore, etc. queue. Other countries not on the sign in another queue.
I used my European passport again. Always use the same passport to enter and leave a country, in this case the Schengen Area. If you don’t you will cause issues that may even stop you from travelling and that can have serious consequences. My wife, again quick, scanned her photo page and then a biometric check. No fingerprint needed. My process was the same.
What about others? What did they experience? Other friends currently travelling around Europe have had the same experience. No issues. One just arrived in Rome said nothing was done. He’s used his Australian passport. He couldn’t use his European passport it had expired and didn’t want to renew it. Not sure which passport his wife used but she’s a dual citizen. They’ll be visiting other European countries so are fine now that they’ve entered. Another fellow Australian traveller already in Europe before the introduction of the EES, said she had no issues moving around and going to the UK and back to Europe.
The answer why nothing was done at Pisa and in Rome (for my friend and his family) and my other friend who has been in and out of Europe is because the EES is being deployed gradually across the 29 European member states. This is over a period of 6 months and these countries are introducing different elements of the EES in phases. Travellers’ biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) is not being collected at all border crossings immediately as well as their personal information may not be registered in the system. Passports are still being stamped. The progressive implementation will be ongoing until 9 April 2026, with the EES fully operational from 10 April, if all goes to plan.
For now, a lot of fuss over nothing. Let’s hope it stays that way and things go smooth…until ETIAS comes around in the last quarter of 2026. Then we’ll discuss about that.
