From Sunday, October 12, 2025, entry to the 29 countries of the Schengen area, which includes the 25 EU countries as well as Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, will start to dispense with passport stamps in favour of a new digital border management system.

From Sunday, all non-EU citizens travelling to and from the European Union may encounter the new biometric entry/exit system (EES), which requires a traveller to have their fingerprints scanned, a photo taken and a simple questionnaire regarding their travel plans completed at automated kiosks, which will be situated within the existing passport control areas at airports and land border crossings. The system will be introduced across the whole EU region over the next 6 months. The EES system will be fully operational from April 10, 2026. Simple questions regarding their travel plans will also need to be answered.

This process, which will take a few minutes, replaces passport stamps with a digital record of entry and exit dates. Exemptions apply for children under 12, and those with existing long-stay visas or short-stay visa fingerprints on file will not be required to provide them again for the EES.

The system might create delays at the start, but it should eventually offer a streamlined process of entry into the EU.

Below is a link to the EU website with further information:-

Link to EU website