Discover the security procedures and checks that apply to different categories of travellers entering or leaving the Schengen Area, and how systems like EES and ETIAS streamline the process.
The EU is preparing to roll out its new Entry/Exit System for non-EU visitors. Here is what the biometric border process means for travellers, where delays may appear and why privacy advocates are watching closely.
The EU is upgrading how Schengen external borders work, including the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). If you travel visa-free, these changes will shape border checks and advance screening.
The EU's ETIAS system has been pushed back again and is now expected to begin in the last quarter of 2026. For visa-exempt travellers, that means more time before the new pre-travel authorisation becomes part of entering the Schengen Area.
Five years after the UK left the EU, mobility remains possible but less frictionless. New border routines, document checks, and incoming digital authorisation systems are reshaping how people move between Britain and Europe.
Five years after the UK left the EU, mobility remains possible but less frictionless. New border routines, document checks, and incoming digital authorisation systems are reshaping how people move between Britain and Europe.
IATA has publicly opposed the UK's plan to raise the ETA fee by 60% only days after the system's wider introduction. The group says the move clashes with tourism growth goals and adds another cost on top of existing air travel taxes.
Airlines are warning that the UK's planned ETA fee increase could make the country less competitive for international visitors. The criticism comes just as the new digital travel permission is being introduced more widely.
At the start of 2025, the central message for British travellers was that the EU's next border changes were still delayed. The Entry/Exit System had to come first, and the later ETIAS permit could only follow once that system had been fully running for months.
For many travellers, 2025 was not about one new rule but several overlapping systems moving at different speeds. The key to making sense of the year was understanding that the UK's ETA, the EU's EES and the later ETIAS permit were separate changes with separate timelines.