If you’re an Australian tourist going to Europe, your arrival at the border will look different from 10 April. The European Union has introduced the entry/exit system (EES), which tracks who is entering and exiting the continent. The new biometric screening measures arrive at a particularly anxious time for tourists. Conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt global air travel, causing thousands of flight cancellations and heightened uncertainty.

What is the EES?

Under the EES, manual passport stamping has been replaced by automated biometric data collection. It is free and requires tourists to have their photo, fingerprints and passport details recorded each time they cross a border. No pre-registration is required, but travellers must hold a valid passport.

Who does it apply to?

Most non-EU citizens travelling for short stays of up to 90 days in a 180-day period will use the EES. Children under 12 only need a facial scan. Irish passport holders and some EU residents are exempt.

Why are passport stamps being replaced?

Experts say the shift towards “smart borders” is driven by the need for better security and efficiency.

Prof Hussein Abbass, a researcher into artificial intelligence and professor at the University of New South Wales, said the primary objective of passport stamping was simply to demonstrate a person had been granted entry.

“If the computerised systems are secure, it is harder to fake these systems than faking a stamp,” Abbass said.

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Dr Dennis Desmond, cybersecurity lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, also said passport stamps are an older, mechanical tool that can be easily forged, misread or missed entirely.

A biometric system provides a more reliable way to tie a traveller to a travel document and detect identity fraud, Desmond said, giving authorities a real-time digital picture of who entered, exited and who may have overstayed.

Dr Brendan Walker-Munro, a security and law expert at Southern Cross University, added that threats to border security had ramped up significantly alongside emerging technologies such as generative AI and image manipulation, meaning additional verification measures were necessary.

“The EES also gives travellers certainty that the people on their flight have been properly checked out, just the same way as metal detectors and body scanners are doing,” he said.

Where do the new rules apply?

The EES applies across the Schengen zone, which encompasses 29 European nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Cyprus and Ireland still use manual passport stamping.

What should tourists expect at the border?

In addition to the new digital checks, border authorities will be tightening their manual checks. Visitors to the region should be prepared to be questioned about the reason for their visit. It is a good idea to have your travel and accommodation details ready, and be able to explain the purpose of your stay.

Travellers have been told not to panic about the new system, but to prepare for initial delays.

Desmond said for many tourists, the first interaction may take a little longer because facial images and fingerprints need to be enrolled and linked to their passport record.

“After that initial registration … subsequent crossings should be more streamlined because the system can verify the traveller against the stored biometric record rather than relying on a fresh manual process each time,” he said.

What about connecting flights?

If you are connecting through a Schengen airport, the EES checks happen at the first point of entry into the Schengen area. Internal flights between Schengen countries usually do not require further checks.

Has the EES already been in use?

While the system is only coming into full effect today, the EES began a gradual rollout in October last year.

According to the European Union’s website, 24,000 people have been turned back from European countries since the rollout began, including for inappropriate justification of their visit, and expired or fraudulent documents. More than 600 people “who posed a security risk to Europe” were also identified, refused entry and recorded in the system.

What should Australian travellers do?

Australians planning to visit Europe should read the Smartraveller advice regarding visas and entry requirements for Europe and the Schengen area. Travellers are encouraged to subscribe to the Smartraveller website for the latest information and updates on entry requirements.

“Australians should not be worried about the EES,” Walker-Munro said, though he warned that the EES means it is far more likely that authorities will easily identify and apprehend travellers who overstay their visa or do not follow its conditions.

Are there any other changes coming?

Europe is also rolling out another, separate border security measure towards the end of the year. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will require travellers from visa-exempt countries, including Australia, to apply for authorisation before departure, a process similar to Australia’s Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).

Is Europe the only place doing this?

No. Biometric border processing is already used in several jurisdictions, including the US, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Canada.

Walker-Munro said Dubai airport is already testing a program where passengers’ faces are scanned as they walk through the terminal, automatically clearing them for immigration without meeting a human border guard.

Rather than inventing the trend toward digital identity assurance, Desmond said Europe is simply “institutionalising it at Schengen scale”.

“I would expect other countries to continue moving in the same direction, particularly where governments are balancing traveller throughput, overstay enforcement, and national security concerns,” he said.

Countries who share facial recognition data, can “deconflict alias identities” and develop an authoritative database on international travellers, which he called “bad for spies, good for national security”.

Are there privacy and surveillance concerns?

While the EES is designed to improve border accuracy, experts warn the mass collection of sensitive data brings risks. Dr Ali Saha, a media and migration expert at the University of Melbourne, said biometric data is permanent and cannot be changed if it is compromised.

“That raises real concerns around data breaches and misuse, especially given the scale of the system and the fact that it operates across multiple countries,” Saha said.

Saha also warned that such technologies are not neutral and could reinforce inequalities through algorithmic bias, potentially leading to differential scrutiny that particularly affects racialised and migrant communities.

“Over time, systems like this could reduce queue times, improve accuracy at borders, and make travel more efficient overall,” she says, “But I think these advantages need to be considered alongside the ongoing concerns around privacy, data protection, and surveillance.”

Desmond noted that under the EU framework, EES records are generally retained for three years, or five years where an overstay is recorded. Assuming the data is encrypted and access is strictly controlled, he said privacy concerns should not be overstated.