New EU Border Checks (EES): How Much Extra Time to Allow, and Why to Pre-Book Your Transfer
The European Union's Entry/Exit System, or EES, has been fully live since 10 April 2026. If you hold a non-EU or non-EFTA passport, arriving in the Schengen area now means biometric checks, a facial image and fingerprints, in place of the old passport stamp. First registration takes longer than a stamp ever did, and at busy airports the arrivals queue can run to hours.
That unpredictability at the border is the new reality for 2026 travel to Europe. Here is what EES actually changes, how much extra time to build into your arrival, and why a flight-tracked transfer you book in advance is worth far more than it was a year ago.
What is the EU Entry/Exit System (EES)?
EES is an automated system that records non-EU and non-EFTA travellers entering and leaving the Schengen area. Instead of an officer stamping your passport, the border now captures your name and travel-document details, a photo of your face and your fingerprints, and logs the date and place of each entry and exit. It applies to short stays, up to 90 days in any 180, across the Schengen countries, and it replaces manual stamping entirely. The official EES page from the European Union sets out exactly what is recorded and where.
The rollout was phased from 12 October 2025 and reached full operation on 10 April 2026, so from your next trip the checks are standard at air, land and sea borders. The first time you cross under EES, the system enrols your biometrics, which is the slow step; later crossings, once you are in the system, are meant to be quicker. The European Commission's EES pages explain how the biometric record works and how long your data is kept.
How much longer will passport control take?
Honestly, it varies, and that is the problem. A biometric enrolment takes longer than a stamp, so at quiet times you might lose only a few extra minutes, while at peak arrival banks the added seconds per traveller stack up into long lines. Since launch, several major airports have reported bottlenecks and multi-hour waits at the busiest times, and airline and airport bodies have asked for the ability to pause checks when volumes overwhelm the border hall. Because of that pressure, the rules allow countries temporary flexibility to ease or suspend EES during peak periods, which means you cannot reliably predict, in advance, whether you will breeze through or stand in line for two hours.
The practical takeaway is to plan for the slow case. Build a generous buffer into anything you have booked for after you land, treat your first EES crossing as the slowest, and do not schedule a tight onward connection immediately after immigration. The same buffer logic we set out for departures, in our guide to how early to arrive at the airport, now applies just as much to your arrival.
| At the border | Before EES | With EES (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| How you are processed | Passport stamped by an officer | Face photo and fingerprints captured and logged |
| First visit | Same as any visit | Slowest, your biometrics are enrolled |
| Later visits | Same as any visit | Meant to be quicker once you are on file |
| Peak-time wait | Usually predictable | Can reach hours; checks may be eased or paused |
| Who it affects | Stamps for non-EU and non-EFTA travellers | Non-EU and non-EFTA travellers on short stays |
Why does EES make a pre-booked transfer more valuable?
When you cannot say whether the border will take fifteen minutes or two hours, the way you get to your hotel matters more. A taxi from the rank starts its meter or its clock when you finally emerge, and a ride-hailing app will not wait an hour for a passenger who is still in the immigration hall; re-requesting after a long queue often means a higher, surged price, or a driver who cancels. A pre-booked private transfer works the other way around: the driver tracks your actual flight and the arrival, not a guessed time, and waits for you.
Under GetTransfer's booking terms, that free waiting window after landing is commonly around an hour, and a good operator will hold longer when they can see your flight has landed and you are simply held up at the border. Instead of walking out to search for a car after a long delay, you are met inside arrivals with a name board through a meet-and-greet service, which lets you choose from fixed-price offers from vetted drivers, the calm, met-on-arrival ride that defines a VIP airport transfer. The wider case for arranging the ride before you fly, rather than at the kerb, is in our guide to pre-booking your transfer.
How to plan your arrival transfer under EES
Book the transfer in advance and give your flight number, so the driver can track the arrival and knows to expect a possible border delay. Choose a service with free waiting and confirm how long it lasts, since that is the buffer that protects you if EES is slow on the day. Allow extra time for anything scheduled soon after you land, and if you are travelling as a family or group, remember that everyone is enrolled individually, so a party of four can take noticeably longer at the desk than a solo traveller. Our guide on how far in advance to book covers timing, and if your inbound flight itself is delayed, a tracked transfer already absorbs that, as our flight-delay guide explains.
EES is not something you can speed up at the border, but it is something you can plan around. Expect the checks, give yourself a buffer, and lock in a driver who tracks your flight and waits, so a long immigration queue costs you time but not your ride. Compare fixed-price offers from vetted drivers on GetTransfer and have your arrival settled before you leave home.
Common questions about EES and airport transfers
Does EES apply to me? If you hold a non-EU and non-EFTA passport and are visiting the Schengen area for a short stay, yes. EU and EFTA nationals are not registered in EES.
Do I need to do anything before I travel? There is no EES application to file; your biometrics are captured at the border on arrival. That first enrolment is the slow step, so simply allow more time. EES is separate from ETIAS, the travel authorisation being introduced later.
Will EES make me miss my transfer? Not if you book one that tracks your flight and includes free waiting. The driver sees that you have landed and waits through the queue, rather than leaving on a fixed clock like a taxi or an app car.
Is ETIAS the same as EES? No. EES logs your entry and exit with biometrics at the border. ETIAS is a separate, pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, expected to follow later. They are two different systems.