Jetsetting stamp collectors, be warned: your passports will soon be barren after your European vacation.
The European Union announced last week that an electronic Entry/Exit System will be implemented later this year, which will negate the need for stamping passports at ports.
Beginning Nov. 10, travelers’ faces and fingerprints will be scanned upon entering Europe, and the biometric data will then be used to cross-reference their passports and verify the individual’s arrival and exit at future dates.
“At every single airport, every single harbor, every single road into Europe, we will have digital border controls,” EU commissioner Ylva Johansson said in a speech on Aug. 16, per USA Today.
“When that happens, it will be goodbye to passport stamping, hello to digital checks.”
To use the system, however, visitors will need biometric passports, or e-passports, which contain biometric identifiers and an electronic chip for bolstered security. While the US e-passports have been doled out since 2007, travelers without a biometric passport will still be able to enter the EU, though they will need to undergo further checks.
“With the Entry/Exit System we will know exactly who enters the Schengen Area, with a foreign passport. We will know if people stay too long. Countering irregular migration,” Johansson said, reported Metro UK.
“And the Entry/Exit System will make it harder for criminals, terrorists or Russian spies to use fake passports.”
Next, the EU will also implement the ETIAS system, which is a form of travel authorization for non-citizens. In order to visit the 30 European countries that will require ETIAS identification, travelers from 60 countries will need to pay less than $8 to complete an application and wait for approval, which could take hours, days or weeks.
Johansson said ETIAS will go live in the spring of 2025 but approved applications will last for three years or until the passport associated with the individual expires.
