EU biometric border system launches, suffers teeting problems
- Reference: 1760424311
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/10/14/eu_biometric_border_system_launches/
- Source link:
Jim Moore, an employee relations expert at HR consultancy Hamilton Nash, spent nearly 90 minutes in the immigration queue at Vaclav Havel Airport on Sunday afternoon, 12 October - the day the service made its debut.
EU starting registration of fingerprints and faces for short-stay foreigners [1]READ MORE
The self-service EES enrollment machines - designed to collect biometric data from non-EU travelers before passport control - were out of service, leaving officials to manually handle both the new registration requirements and standard border checks.
"The officials were having to do it themselves," Moore told The Register . "It's a classic multi-thread to single-thread problem."
Moore avoided an even longer wait when staff called out for Australian and British passport holders, redirecting them to a desk normally reserved for EU citizens. There, officers bypassed the EES enrollment entirely and waved them through. "I managed to escape it," he said.
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After Moore tweeted a photo of the queue and warned a colleague arriving later to expect significant delays, the situation improved. By the time his colleague's flight landed a couple of hours later, the EES machines were operational and the backlog had cleared.
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Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent, had a different experience. His Ryanair flight was scheduled to arrive ten minutes before the EES system went live at midnight but landed 25 minutes early. Despite deliberately waiting past midnight, Calder found the machines still weren't activated and passed through passport control without enrolling in the new system.
The Entry/Exit System requires travelers aged 12 and above from non-EU countries to register fingerprints, facial biometrics, and passport information upon first arrival at any border within the 29-nation Schengen area. Enrollment is free and creates a record valid for three years. The EU plans to introduce a related scheme, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), in late 2026, which will require advance authorization and carry a €20 fee.
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Prague Airport acknowledged the difficulties, posting a banner on its website stating: "Due to introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES) effective 12th October 2025, longer waiting times at both arrival and departure border control might affect non-EU nationals."
[6]Ryanair faces GDPR turbulence over customer ID checks
[7]Britain's policing minister punts facial recog nationwide
[8]Interpol makes first border arrest using Biometric Hub to ID suspect
[9]Sainsbury's eyes up shoplifters with live facial recognition
[10]Biden stopped ICE from buying Israeli spyware, but Trump admin allows it to proceed
In response to passenger inquiries on social media, the airport warned that "in the initial phase of the EES, longer waiting times at border control may occur," particularly when multiple flights arrive simultaneously or when large aircraft land.
Most Schengen countries are introducing EES gradually between now and March 2026, including three French border control posts on British soil at Dover, Folkestone, and London St Pancras station. However, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Luxembourg opted for immediate implementation from day one.
Prague is a particularly popular destination for British travelers, with 2.1 million visiting the Czech capital in 2024 — a 29 percent increase on the previous year — making smooth border operations especially critical. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/25/eu_entry_exit_system/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aO4fNC_ymyvVCtfYWeTaigAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/05/irish_dpc_ryanair_probe/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/30/britains_policing_minister_talks_up/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/01/interpol_biohub_arrest/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/sainsburys_lfr/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/02/biden_stopped_ice_from_buying/
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: suffers teeting problems
Superb -->
Re: suffers teeting problems
I suppose we should milk that joke for all its worth.
Don't lose your bottle.
Re: suffers teeting problems
Biting the what? that feeds IT?
Re: suffers teeting problems
Meanwhile, the passengers will just have to suck it up.
Oh woe is me!
Ninety minutes in queue?
Seriously, I have been waiting in a queue way longer when entering the US more than ten years ago. No, it is not great, in fact it sucks. A lot. And he EU should be able to do better than the US in that regard, totally. But I find it not particularly long, compared to my experience on the other side of the Atlantic. Maybe things have improved nowadays? (ok, fewer people seem to visit, so there's that - on the other hand there seems to be a lot more questioning)
Re: Oh woe is me!
Don't forget that the EU is a union of 27 different countries, each of which chooses how and when to implement new systems like this. I suspect that it will go well in small tech-savvy places like Estonia, and will be a complete fiasco in others like France and Greece.
Re: Oh woe is me!
My quickest entry was a few years back. Our flight to Madeira (FNC) was diverted to Grand Canaria (LPA), due to high winds at FNC. It was late evening and the border officials at LPA took one look at the plane load arriving at short notice and just opened the gate to wave everyone through. I'm guessing their assumption was that we were all being bused to hotels for one night and would be leaving the next morning (which is what happened). However, on arriving at FNC, since our flight was coming from LPA, we were all admitted via the "Schengen" gates - no passport checks. It was before the full Brexit arrangements had come into play, so no missing passport stamps on the way home.
I refuse to cross any border that fingerprints you (yes, last visit to the US was 2003).
I recently left Italy - Even people at the EU exit e-gates couldn't figure out how to look into the camera, and the EU expects 12 year olds to use a kiosk and fingerprint themselves.
This is going to cause some serious disruption.
I'm very upset...
Jim Moore, an employee relations expert at HR consultancy
couldn't they have kept him waiting for 90 years? It's what HR deserves.
GDPR improves your privacy demanding only fair and appropriate data grabs.
Yet they demand all of your information for a weekend trip and hold it for three years when you arrive?
One rule for the state, another for everyone else.
I recall LHR having a system that required you to remove your glasses, at which point you wouldn't be able to see the next instruction on the distant screen. Genius.
Re: GDPR improves your privacy demanding only fair and appropriate data grabs.
But you can cross the whole EU continent from Africa to the UK, sans-passport, without passing through any immigration control.
Makes you wonder what the EU's priorities are.
"Despite deliberately waiting past midnight, Calder found the machines still weren't activated"
Well, no. For systems like this, I'd expect the day to be programmed to begin at some time between 2-4am when there are fewer passengers than at midnight.
Re: "Despite deliberately waiting past midnight, Calder found the machines still weren't activated"
Or maybe it was just a classical Y2K problem.
suffers teeting problems
I do hope they are keep abreast of the situation.