The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system that registers non-EU nationals each time they cross the external borders of the 29 European countries using it for a short stay. It records the traveler’s name, travel document data, fingerprints and facial image, and the date and place of each entry and exit, and it also records refusals of entry.
According to the European Commission, the EES began a progressive start of operations on 12 October 2025 and became fully operational on 10 April 2026. Since then it has replaced the manual stamping of passports, which lets border authorities automatically detect travelers who stay longer than their authorized short stay.
Source: European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs: Entry/Exit System (EES)
Image: Border control at Marseille Provence Airport, by Okki (derivative work by Bonus bon), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.