Dover and Eurotunnel EES: cars not fingerprinted this summer

If you are driving through the Channel Tunnel or taking your car on a ferry from Dover this summer, you will not be fingerprinted or face-scanned. Both Eurotunnel (part of Getlink, which runs Le Shuttle) and the Port of Dover told The Local in July 2026 that full EES checks will not start until after the peak summer period. French border officers still create an EES record at the Channel using your passport data, but the biometric step is not happening yet for cars. 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 check travellers on UK soil at the Channel, are registering car passengers using passport details only. For Le Shuttle, car passengers stay in their vehicles and proceed to passport control, where the border police create a digital EES record without biometric data. Le Shuttle’s own EES page says there will be no EES biometric capture at its Folkestone or Calais terminals during the summer holiday period.

At Dover, the position is similar. The port has invested £40 million in new infrastructure at the Western Docks, including 84 self-registration kiosks, but the back-end technology needed for the file creation has not yet been provided. The kiosk facility is not open to car passengers for now, and the port’s EES page says the full EES process for tourist traffic has not yet been implemented.

Who is going through full EES checks at the Channel?

Coach passengers and freight drivers. The Local reports that they are the only groups currently subject to fully EES-compliant checks at Eurotunnel and Dover. Eurotunnel says the French border police have delivered full EES compliance for coach passengers and freight drivers on its sites since October 2025. At Dover, coach passengers get off at the new processing area at the Western Docks, have their passports scanned at a border police desk and reboard, and the coach is then sealed for the run to the ferry terminal.

Does the 90-day count still start on entry?

Yes, from the day you cross. The border police still create an EES record from your passport data, and the Schengen 90-day rule applies in full from that point. The EU is clear that EES changes nothing to the short-stay rules of 90 days in any 180. The temporary absence of fingerprints at the Channel does not pause your stay clock or create a loophole.

Expect to give fingerprints and a facial image on a later crossing once biometric capture starts at these Channel sites, 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 heavy traffic, and the juxtaposed control model means checks happen before boarding on the UK side. Any slowdown at the frontier backs up into departure queues. Dover’s chief executive has warned that without more flexibility in EES the port faces repeated episodes of severe congestion this summer.

There is also a technical gap on the French side. Dover says the back-end technology for file creation has still to be provided, and Le Shuttle says it is waiting for the French authorities to confirm when their central system will be technically available. The operators expect the next phase after the summer peak.

Elsewhere, countries have handled peak-season pressure through a different route. The Local reports that several Italian airports have used the EU option to temporarily suspend checks when queues become serious. For car travellers at the Channel, the practical effect this summer is similar: no fingerprints.

What should Channel travellers do?

Nothing different. Your passport is required as always, and Le Shuttle says customers can continue to travel through its terminals as normal. There is no new form and no kiosk to queue at. At Dover, the port asks car travellers to arrive at the Eastern Docks no more than two hours before departure.

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 that press reports expect in 2027, is separate from EES and unaffected by the Channel biometric situation. Applications are not open yet, and no action is required yet. Once ETIAS starts, the EU says a valid travel authorisation will be what lets you board your flight, bus or ferry, and carriers’ check-in staff will be able to see it in the system. The ETIAS status page carries the current official position.