EES, the EU Entry/Exit System: what changes at the border
EES is the EU’s digital border record for visitors from outside the EU, including UK and US passport holders. On your first trip you register your passport, fingerprints and a photo; after that every entry and exit is logged instead of stamped — and checked against the same limit of 90 days in any 180.
What is EES?
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is the EU’s automated system for registering visitors from outside the EU who come for a short stay. It is set up by Regulation (EU) 2017/2226. For each traveller it records the name, the travel document, fingerprints and a facial image, and the date and place of every entry and exit. If you are refused entry, or stay longer than you’re allowed, that is recorded too.
EES replaces passport stamps. Since 10 April 2026, border guards no longer stamp your passport in the countries that use EES: the digital record takes its place.
When did EES start?
EES started on 12 October 2025, introduced step by step at border crossing points, and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026.
Which countries use EES?
EES is used by 29 European countries: the countries of the Schengen area. Cyprus and Ireland don’t use it.
Who needs to register
Anyone who isn’t an EU citizen and travels to an EES country for a short stay — that includes UK and US passport holders. Some travellers are exempt: they don’t register, and show their exempting documents to the border guard instead. The UK government points British travellers to the full list of exemptions on the EU’s EES website.
Children under 12 don’t give fingerprints, but their other details are still registered.
EES registration: what happens at the border
- First trip: your passport is scanned, your fingerprints are taken and your photo is captured — at a border guard’s desk, or at self-service booths or kiosks first.
- Later trips: you may be asked for a fingerprint or your photo again, including when you leave.
- How long it lasts: the UK government says your EES record is valid for 3 years. Data is normally kept for three years and then deleted; in special cases it can be kept for five.
Dover, Folkestone and St Pancras
If you leave the UK through the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel Le Shuttle at Folkestone or Eurostar at London St Pancras International, the EES checks happen at the border there — before you leave the UK. At St Pancras you may be asked to use self-service pre-registration kiosks; at Dover, kiosks or agents with tablets, depending on your vehicle.
EES delays and queues
Registering takes each passenger extra time. The UK government’s advice is to be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border, especially at busy times.
Is there an EES app?
Frontex, the EU’s border agency, makes the Travel to Europe app. Where a country uses it, you can pre-register your passport details and photo, and answer the entry questions, within 72 hours before you cross. Fingerprints are still taken at the border, in front of a border guard. Countries choose whether and where to use the app; Sweden uses it at selected border points, including Arlanda airport. Using it is voluntary.
EES and your 90 days in any 180
A short stay in the Schengen area is at most 90 days in any 180, counted for all the countries together. Because EES logs every entry and exit, the border guard sees how many of those days you have used — and an overstay is recorded in your file. The EU’s EES website lets you calculate the days you have left.
Example. You spent 1–30 June (30 days) and 1–31 August (31 days) in the Schengen area. You enter again on 1 October: the 180 days up to that date hold 61 days, so you have 29 left. You can stay until 29 October; a 30 October in the zone would be day 91.
How FlySee counts it
FlySee counts the Schengen 90/180 rule from its own record of your days, not from EES: 90 days in any 180, every Schengen country as one zone, and any part of a day as a day, so the days you arrive and leave both count. It can’t see what EES holds about you. Days FlySee isn’t sure of are counted as days in the zone, marked as assumed, and you’re asked to confirm them — so its count errs on the side of more days.