Dover and Eurotunnel EES: cars not fingerprinted this summer

If you are driving through the Channel Tunnel or taking a ferry from Dover this summer, you will not be fingerprinted or face-scanned. Both Getlink (which operates Le Shuttle) and the Port of Dover confirmed in July 2026 that full EES biometric registration has been deferred for car passengers. French border officers still create an EES record at the Channel using your passport data, but the biometric step is not happening yet for vehicles. No date for the switch-on has been set.

What is happening at the border right now?

The Police aux Frontières (PAF), the French officers who staff the juxtaposed controls on the UK side of the Channel, are registering travellers using passport details only. For Le Shuttle, car passengers stay in their vehicles and proceed through passport control as they always have. An EES entry file is created by the officer at the desk, but without fingerprints or a facial image.

At Dover, the position is similar. Around 84 self-registration kiosks were installed at the Western Docks as part of a significant investment in EES infrastructure. The kiosks exist, but the back-end technology that the PAF needs to process full biometric file creation is not yet in place. The kiosks remain closed to car passengers for now.

Who is going through full EES checks at the Channel?

Coach passengers and freight drivers. These groups have been fully EES-compliant since October 2025, when the broader EES rollout began. Coach passengers disembark, pass through a processing desk where biometrics are collected, and reboard before departure. Car passengers and foot passengers on Dover ferries are the groups where biometric capture remains outstanding.

Does the 90-day count still start on entry?

Yes, from the day you cross. EES records your entry using travel-document data regardless of whether biometrics are collected, and the Schengen 90-day rule applies in full from that point. The temporary absence of fingerprints at the Channel does not delay your stay clock or create a loophole. Overstaying is still tracked.

When biometrics do eventually begin at these Channel sites, the system will link your fingerprint and facial data to the earlier entry records already on file. You may face first-time biometric enrolment on a future crossing even after several trips this summer without it.

Why is full rollout taking so long at the Channel?

The Channel crossings face a particular logistical challenge. Dover and Folkestone handle enormous throughput, and the juxtaposed control model means checks happen before boarding on the UK side. Any slowdown at the frontier ripples back into departure queues fast. Running full biometric capture for car passengers through the school-holiday peak would mean every vehicle stopping while passengers exit the car, use a kiosk, and reboard.

Beyond the volume problem, there is a technical issue specific to Dover: the back-end software the PAF needs for full biometric file creation has not been delivered. Kiosk hardware is installed. The system behind it is not ready. Those two factors combined to push car-passenger rollout past the summer period.

Other EU countries have managed similar peak-season pressure through a different route. Italy and Portugal activated a formal EU mechanism to temporarily suspend biometric collection at busy airports when queues spike. The Channel situation is not that formal suspension, but the practical effect for travellers is the same: no fingerprints this summer.

What should Channel travellers do?

Nothing different. Your passport is required as always. The crossing process for car drivers has not changed. There is no new form, no extra step, no kiosk to queue at.

The one thing worth noting is that when full biometric rollout does begin at Dover and Folkestone for car traffic, your first crossing under the new process will involve the full first-time enrolment: fingerprints for anyone aged 12 and over, a facial image, and a few minutes at a kiosk or staffed desk. Build some extra time into that trip when the time comes. For how EES works at the Channel Tunnel in general, including the juxtaposed control setup, the Eurostar and Le Shuttle EES guide covers the detail.

What about ETIAS?

ETIAS, the EU pre-travel authorisation expected in 2027, is separate from EES and unaffected by the Channel biometric situation. Applications are not open yet, and no action is required yet. applications are not open. When ETIAS does launch, Channel operators will verify authorisation status before boarding, as airlines already do for EES. The ETIAS status page carries the current official position.