Eu To Roll Out Biometric Border Control System And South African Travellers Must Know Everything About Fingerprints, Facial Scans And New Entry Requirements

Published on August 26, 2025

From October 12, 2025, South African travelers walking to nan European Union will person to look nan caller biometric entry-exit strategy which incorporates fingerprint postulation and facial nickname successful spot of passport stamping. The European Union is readying to instrumentality nan caller strategy to heighten security, streamline separator management, and amended nan travel of recreation for non-EU passengers. The EU is intending to trim and amended congestion astatine separator crossings successful nan agelong run.

Starting connected October 12, 2025, nan European Union will motorboat its long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES), marking a important alteration successful separator power procedures. The caller strategy will switch nan accepted passport stamping process pinch biometric checks, requiring each non-EU travellers— including those from nan UK and South Africa—to taxable some fingerprints and facial scans upon entering immoderate of nan EU’s 27 personnel states.

The implementation of nan EES is group to unfold gradually complete a play of six months, pinch afloat functionality expected by April 2026. This integer strategy intends to heighten information astatine EU borders while streamlining nan process for early travellers.

Transition to Digital Border Control

Rather than nan manual stamping of passports by separator officials, nan EES will electronically cod and shop travellers’ individual and biometric data, including fingerprints and facial scans, astatine departure points specified arsenic airports, train stations, and ferry terminals. Dedicated booths will beryllium installed to cod this data, which will past beryllium stored successful nan strategy for a long of 3 years, applicable to short-term stays of up to 90 days.

The process will beryllium free of charge, but it is mandatory for travellers to supply their biometric data. Travellers who do not comply pinch nan caller requirements will beryllium refused entry. Once information is recorded successful nan system, it is expected to velocity up nan border-crossing process for repetition visitors, peculiarly pinch nan preamble of e-gates that will facilitate quicker transition successful nan future.

Efficiency versus Potential Delays

Although nan EU has emphasised that nan EES will yet trim separator congestion and velocity up processing times, concerns astir imaginable delays remain, particularly during highest recreation seasons. The preamble of biometric checks could initially lead to longer waiting times, arsenic nan basal infrastructure is established and travellers set to nan caller procedures.

In nan early stages, queues whitethorn beryllium longer arsenic officials instrumentality nan strategy and arsenic passengers get accustomed to nan caller introduction process. However, nan EU asserts that nan system’s ratio will amended arsenic much information is collected and automated systems grip overmuch of nan work.

What South African Travellers Should Know

South African passport holders readying to sojourn nan EU should beryllium alert of nan caller strategy and cheque pinch their hose aliases recreation supplier for circumstantial introduction procedures astatine their larboard of entry. Although South Africans typically require a Schengen visa to participate nan EU, nan biometric checks nether nan EES will beryllium an further requirement. This intends that, alongside nan existing visa checks, travellers will besides request to comply pinch nan biometric registration process.

With nan preamble of nan EES, non-EU travellers will nary longer person to trust connected nan beingness stamps successful their passports, but instead, their biometric information will service arsenic nan cardinal to accessing nan EU. This caller strategy will thief trim manual involution by separator power officers, offering nan committedness of smoother and much businesslike recreation successful nan future, erstwhile afloat operational.

While nan displacement to biometric checks will revolutionise separator power crossed nan EU, nan modulation play whitethorn spot immoderate increasing pains arsenic travellers go accustomed to nan caller process. However, successful nan agelong run, it is expected to amended recreation ratio and bolster security, making cross-border journeys faster and much seamless.