UK-France border delays full EES checks until after summer

Full biometric checks for the EU’s Entry/Exit System will not be deployed at the UK-France border this summer. Spokespeople for the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar confirmed that non-EU travellers in cars and standard trains will continue crossing without the fingerprint and facial image registrations required under the full EES regime.

Instead, French border police will scan passports and manually create basic digital files while passengers remain in their vehicles. Eurotunnel stated that LeShuttle customers “will continue to travel as normal throughout the peak season, with no change to the process through its terminals.”

The delayed rollout for cars masks a split reality for cross-Channel logistics. Freight drivers and coach passengers are already subject to fully compliant EES checks. Eurotunnel noted that the Police aux Frontières has been delivering full compliance for these groups at its sites since October 2025, a reality that is already adding processing time to goods movements.

The postponement is not due to a lack of physical infrastructure. The Port of Dover has invested £40 million in 84 self-registration kiosks. This is supplemented by £30.5 million in UK government funds, including a recent £20 million allocation for additional passport booths at Dover. Eurostar has also installed self-check-in kiosks at London Saint Pancras. However, the back-end technology required to capture and process biometric data at these kiosks has not yet been provided.

Eurotunnel said it is “awaiting confirmation from the French authorities on the timing of this next phase, expected after the summer peak.” When that phase arrives, the logistical strains predicted by port authorities could materialise. Doug Banister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, previously warned that without flexibility, the port will “face repeated episodes of severe congestion,” with queuing cars “spilling out of the port onto the public highway for miles.”

For now, Dover is advising travellers to arrive no more than two hours before departures and stick to the A20 and A2 roads to avoid clogging local Kent infrastructure. The UK government and the European Commission have agreed to “work together constructively to ensure travel across the border is as seamless as possible in the summer and through the autumn.”

The EES, which replaces manual passport stamping to track non-EU short-stay visitors, began a gradual rollout in October 2025 and full implementation at external Schengen borders in April 2026. The requirement for in-person biometric registration has already caused severe bottlenecks elsewhere in Europe, prompting Italy, Spain and Greece to temporarily suspend checks under EU rules allowing such measures during serious queue problems.