Portugal is pausing EES biometric checks; Italy may follow

Reports from European airports are confusing summer travellers. Some passengers arriving in Portugal have their fingerprints taken and face scanned as normal; others, at busy moments, go through without the biometric step. Both are legal. Portugal is using a temporary EU mechanism that allows a country to pause biometric registration when airport queues get long, and Italy has been weighing a similar move. Here is what it means for your trip, and what does not change.

What “pausing” actually means

The EES progressive-start regulation gives each member state a narrow safety valve. For 90 days after the progressive start ended (EES became fully operational on 10 April 2026), a country can partially suspend EES at a given border crossing for up to six hours, in exceptional circumstances where waiting times become excessive. The 90 days are extended automatically by 60 days if fewer than 80% of the files registered during the progressive start hold biometric data, which would carry the window into early September 2026. Each suspension must be notified to the Commission and eu-LISA within six hours, and the Commission has said the rules allow no blanket exemption for one nationality.

During a pause, only the biometric step is suspended: the rest of the EES registration carries on, so your entry is still logged from your passport details. The only thing not collected at that moment is the biometric data: fingerprints and facial image.

Italy: a 45-minute trigger under discussion

In early May, Italy’s government was reported to be drafting an emergency decree that would let border officers at airports such as Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa revert to traditional procedures whenever the border queue passes 45 minutes, nationwide until 30 September 2026. There is no confirmation yet that it has been adopted. If Italy does use the mechanism, the same EU limits apply: specific crossings, up to six hours at a time, notified to Brussels.

Portugal: peak-time suspensions at its airports

On 18 May, Portugal’s interior ministry ruled out suspending EES as a whole, but said biometric collection could be paused at specific border crossings when traffic would cause excessive waits, with the PSP police resuming it as soon as conditions allow. The day before, waits had topped two hours at Porto and an hour and a half at Lisbon and Faro. Ryanair had called on 8 May for Portugal to suspend EES until September after hour-long passport queues at Lisbon over the May bank holiday. In late May, the Commission confirmed that Portugal was notifying suspensions of biometric registration as needed, at peak times, to avoid queues at its airports.

Portugal can pause but not opt out permanently. Each suspension must be reported to Brussels with the border crossing point and its duration specified.

Your 90-day clock starts regardless

This is the part that matters most. Whether or not biometrics are collected when you arrive, your stay clock starts on entry day and the Schengen 90/180-day rule applies in full. EES records your crossing by passport data even during a pause. The biometric file is simply incomplete for now.

Outside a pause, the normal rule applies, so expect your fingerprints and facial image to be taken at a later crossing, whether that is on your way out or on a future trip. Overstaying is still detected, because the entry itself is recorded. Nothing about the 90-day limit is suspended, only the biometric scan.

Why this is different from what Greece tried to do

Greece made headlines in April when its London embassy said British visitors would not have to give biometric data. That was not the same thing. A Commission spokesperson said the legal framework does not foresee blanket exemptions for nationals of specific countries over an extended period. By mid-May, the Greek Foreign Ministry was telling the Associated Press it had no update on any nationality being exempt.

Portugal’s suspensions are different on two counts: they apply to all non-EU travellers at the crossing equally, and they are notified to Brussels. They are the mechanism working as intended, not a workaround.

What about ETIAS?

ETIAS, the pre-travel authorisation that has no official start date yet (press reporting on EU planning now points to 2027), will run through the same border infrastructure as EES. When it goes live, airlines will check your ETIAS status before boarding and border officers will verify it at the crossing, regardless of whether biometrics are collected on that day. The temporary summer pauses will have expired long before ETIAS launches. For the full picture of how the two systems relate, see the EES vs ETIAS guide.

What to expect at the border this summer

• If biometrics are being collected (the standard case): present your passport and have fingerprints and a facial image taken at a kiosk or staffed desk. First-time visitors should allow extra time; our guide to EES queue times covers how much buffer to build in.
• If biometrics are paused: your entry is still recorded by EES from your passport. Expect biometrics to be taken at a later crossing.
• Either way: your 90-day allowance starts from the day of entry. Keep a note of the date, or use the 90/180 calculator to track your remaining days.
• If you have crossed Schengen before: if your biometrics are already on file from a previous trip, you are not affected. The system finds the file it already holds and officers only verify your face or fingerprints.