In This Section
What is the EES?
The Entry/Exist System, or EES, is an IT system that will be used at Schengen Area external borders for scanning passports and other travel documents of ‘non-EU nationals’. (For the purposes of the EES, ‘non-EU national’ means a traveller who is not a citizen of any European Union country or of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland). Replacing manual passport checks, the automated Entry/Exit System will use biometric and biographic data contained in passports and travel documents to register non-EU Nationals who travel to the Schengen Area for ‘short-stays’, stays that amount to less than 90 days within any 180 day period.
What countries will implement the EES?
All Schengen Zone countries will implement the EES. Those countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Nether¬lands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
As Ireland is not participating in EES, travellers coming directly to Ireland are not bound by the scheme’s requirements.
Who will the EES impact?
The requirement to register with the Entry/Exit System will apply to most Third Country Nationals who travel to the Schengen Area for a short stay. Importantly, both Third Country Nationals who must obtain a short-stay visa to enter the Schengen Area and those who do not need to obtain a short-stay visa to enter the Schengen Area are required to register with the EES at Schengen Area external borders. There are some exemptions and certain Third Country Nationals will not be required to register with the EES, please see below for further information.
Will Irish IRP (Irish Residence Permit) holders be exempt from using the EES?
Only holders of Irish Residence Permits who are immediately related to one of the following will be exempt:
1. An EU Citizen
2. A citizen of Schengen Area Country
3. A Third Country National who can travel throughout Europe like a citizen of a Schengen Area country.
Are EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement Beneficiaries exempt?
Exemptions under the Entry/Exit System do not apply to Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries and their family members whose host State is Ireland or Cyprus, given that these two Member States do not participate in the Entry/Exit System.
For other UK nationals and their family members who are beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement, they will be exempt from registration in the Entry/Exit System (EES) only if they hold a specific residence document:
Please note that specific residence documents falling under c) and d) may change over time so Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries are advised to check before travel.
For the full exemptions from EES list, please visit the EES website here.
Data Protection
How long does the EES keep your personal data?
Data will be stored in the system for the following durations:
Records of entries, exits, and refusals of entry: 3 years, starting on the date on which they were recorded.
Individual files containing personal data: 3 years and one day, starting on the date of the last exit record (or of refusal of entry, if passenger was not permitted to enter).
If no exit has been recorded: 5 years, starting on the expiry date of the authorised stay.
After each time period expires, the data is automatically erased. As the fingerprint scans of travellers requiring Schengen visas will already be in the Visa Information System, they will not be stored again in the EES.
In the case of Third Country Nationals who are family members of EU, EEA, or Swiss nationals who are travelling to a state other than the state of their nationality, or who already reside there, and who are accompanying or joining these EU, EEA, or Swiss nationals, each entry, exit, or refusal of entry record will be stored for one year following the date of the exit record or of the refusal of entry record.