EES: When border checks will begin for Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel travellers

The rollout of nan EU’s long-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES) will statesman connected 12 October this year. 

Given nan challenges of implementing nan caller integer separator strategy and its dedicated technology, nan motorboat will beryllium a phased process complete six months. 

Both nan Port of Dover and nan Eurotunnel person confirmed that nan mostly of travellers departing from nan UK will not instantly beryllium taxable to EES checks arsenic they shape successful nan system.  

The announcement has allayed fears of lengthy queues and disorder astatine borders connected and astir nan charismatic motorboat date.

Here’s what you request to cognize if you are a non-EU visitant travelling into nan Schengen area adjacent month. 

How will nan motorboat of nan EES impact travellers?

The EES will beryllium a registration strategy for UK, US and different non-EU travellers.

Travellers will request to scan their passports aliases different recreation documents astatine a self-service stalls each clip they transverse an EU outer border. It will not use to ineligible EU citizens aliases residents aliases those pinch long-stay visas.

The strategy will registry nan traveller’s name, biometric data, and nan day and spot of introduction and exit. Facial scans and fingerprint information taken during nan first registration are stored successful nan EES database for 3 years. 

During this period, travellers will only request to supply a fingerprint aliases photograph astatine nan separator erstwhile entering and exiting, which will beryllium matched against stored data.

When will EES separator checks travel into effect?

The caller strategy requires Europe's separator crossings to person dedicated infrastructure installed. The UK authorities has reportedly provided Eurostar, Eurotunnel and nan Port of Dover pinch £3.5 cardinal (€4.1 million) each to walk connected registration kiosks.

There are concerns that travellers will look agelong delays pursuing nan rollout of nan EES owed to having to navigate caller scanning exertion astatine each world land, maritime and aerial crossings successful nan Schengen Area. 

To combat this, nan Port of Dover will only present EES checks connected 12 October for coach passengers, a spokesperson told news tract The Local. 

At nan Eurotunnel, coaches and freight postulation will beryllium nan first to spell done EES kiosks opening 12 October. 

Other traffic, including nan thousands of car passengers who usage nan crossings each day, will beryllium taxable to nan caller strategy from 1 November.

How will EES separator checks activity for travellers?

Beginning connected 12 October, coach travellers departing from Dover will person to spell done a purpose-built Western Docks processing zone. 

Passengers will person to alight from vehicles successful bid to registry astatine dedicated EES kiosks and spell done passport control. 

They will past re-board nan coach, which will beryllium sealed and driven onwards to nan ferry terminal.

There will beryllium 12 self-registration kiosks for coach passengers, and 72 disposable for car passengers, nan spokesperson said.

Port authorities will reportedly beryllium capable to suspend checks for short periods if processing times go excessively long.

Travellers exempt from EES checks - including EU/Schengen nationals positive non-EU nationals legally resident successful EU/Schengen states - are reminded they should skip nan EES checks and "go straight to nan Border to beryllium processed".

At nan Eurotunnel terminal, only freight and coach postulation will beryllium taxable to integer checks opening 12 October. 

“Passenger vehicles will travel a fewer weeks later, pinch nan nonstop commencement day to beryllium confirmed soon by nan French authorities,” a media spokesperson told The Local.

A full of 224 biometrics kiosks person been installed astatine Eurotunnel terminals, 106 astatine Folkestone and 118 astatine Calais.

As astatine Dover, travellers exempt from EES checks will not person to walk done nan EES registration area and will alternatively proceed straight to nan border.

"When nan conveyance arrives astatine nan terminal, each passengers, sloppy of status, check-in astatine nan kiosk. If identified arsenic EU citizens, nan conveyance will proceed its travel without entering nan EES biometric information area," nan spokesperson said.

Eurostar says location will beryllium ‘no queues’ astatine London St Pancras

Cross-Channel train work Eurostar is already taking precautions to easiness delays astatine nan border. Facing overcrowding owed to nan constricted capacity of nan historical London St Pancras station, it is allowing passengers to committee trains earlier.

Travellers tin now return their seats 30 minutes earlier departure, alternatively of waiting successful nan departure lounge.

The usability says nan measurement will debar further delays for check-in, information and separator checks erstwhile nan EES strategy launches. 

Eurostar will besides double nan number of separator unit and manual booths.

There isn’t abstraction for each of nan caller EES kiosks, up to 49 from 24, successful their accustomed location, truthful they’ll beryllium installed astatine various different places astir nan station, presently utilized by some home obstruction operators and nan HS1 service, a high-speed railway linking London pinch nan Channel Tunnel.

Eurostar has besides assured passengers that location will beryllium “specially-trained unit disposable astatine each times​” astatine nan caller booths.

The usability says it expects stalls checks to return an mean of 90 seconds per passenger. 

Eurostar main information and stations serviceman Simon Lejeune told nan PA news agency that Eurostar will return “full advantage” of nan six-month rollout play by only initially requiring immoderate predominant travellers and those pinch premium tickets to usage nan kiosks.