EES biometrics: nine Schengen countries still pausing checks

Nine Schengen countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have reportedly been allowed to keep limiting EES biometric checks, days after the formal legal mechanism for pausing them expired. The arrangement is not confirmed by the European Commission in any published document. If you are travelling to one of these nine countries in autumn, you may or may not face biometric registration at the border, depending on which crossing you use and how busy it is when you arrive.

What does not change is your 90-day Schengen allowance. The rule applies whether or not biometrics are collected, and when EES skips only the biometrics, the crossing itself is still recorded.

Which nine countries?

Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. In a letter dated 7 July to Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, these countries asked for the partial suspension mechanism to stay available after it expired, and for written guarantees that it would, Travel Tomorrow reported. According to The Times, as reported by Connexion France on 13 September, the same nine are being allowed to continue limiting biometric checks to “maintain border fluidity”.

The remaining Schengen countries are not named in these reports: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. If you cross a Schengen border in one of those countries, expect a facial image and fingerprints if you are not yet registered.

What expired after 6 September and why it matters

When the Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026, the regulation on its progressive start left a fallback for border authorities. At a specific crossing point, they could suspend biometric registration for up to six hours when traffic made waiting times excessive. Member states had 90 days to use it, automatically extended by 60 days if fewer than 80% of files registered during the rollout held biometric data. The extended window ran out after 6 September 2026. No further legal extension has been passed.

The full detail of how this summer mechanism worked, and what changed on 7 September, is in the earlier explainer. The short version: the rule as written requires full registration. In practice, the nine countries are reportedly still limiting checks, and the Commission has not commented.

What the Commission actually said

When the July letter was reported, Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert welcomed the countries’ “explicit commitment” to full EES implementation and said the Commission remained in “close and constructive contact” with the “few member states” facing difficulties. He did not say whether the emergency measures would be extended.

Since the deadline, the Commission has not commented on the reported arrangement, Connexion France said. No new deadline has been set, according to The Times report. However, a 14 September update to Connexion France’s report said the French interior ministry, asked about the reports, confirmed that “flexibility will be allowed until the end of the year” while pre-registration kiosks and tablets are rolled out.

What this means at the border

The reports do not say which crossings in the nine countries are affected, so practice may vary from one airport, port or land crossing to the next.

In practice, this means you cannot know in advance whether a specific crossing in France, Germany or Italy will collect biometrics on your arrival. The Channel crossings at Dover and the Eurotunnel remain a separate case: car biometrics have not started there, and the operators say they are waiting for the French authorities’ system to be technically ready.

The sensible assumption for autumn travel: be prepared for biometric registration at any Schengen crossing. Whether or not it happens on a given day at a given port, your EES entry record is being created from your passport. The 90-day clock is running.

Your Schengen day count is unaffected

This is worth being clear about. A crossing where only biometrics were paused still generated an EES record with the date and place of entry or exit. Those days counted then, and they count now. (During the rollout from 12 October 2025 to 9 April 2026, not every crossing was registered in EES, but the 90/180 rule applied throughout.)

If you were in Europe this summer, those days are already on your record. Autumn trips need to be planned against whatever allowance remains. The 90/180 calculator works from your actual crossing dates, so it will give you an accurate picture regardless of whether biometrics were collected.

Practical steps before an autumn trip

• Not yet registered and entering one of the nine countries: biometric registration may or may not happen. Allow extra time just in case, and treat it as a bonus if the crossing is quick.
• Not yet registered and entering any other Schengen country: expect full biometric registration. Allow extra time on top of whatever queue is ahead of you.
• Already enrolled: future crossings are faster, especially wherever automated EES gates are installed.
• Check your day count: use the 90/180 calculator before booking, not on the day you travel.