The days of thumbing through your passport, seeing the unique stamp from your entry to each country and smiling at those memories, are drawing to a close.
Twenty-nine European countries – including France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland – are stamping out stamps, following this month’s launch of a new biometric Entry/Exit System or EES across the European Union.
Most visitors from Australia, and other non-EU nationals who are exempt from needing a visa, will no longer have their passport stamped on arrival.
Travelers to the EU will register for the new Entry/Exit System (EES) at airport kiosks by providing facial photos and fingerprints. Although the initial process may cause delays, future entries will be quicker, using fingerprint and photo scans for faster access.
The EU says its new system will prevent “irregular migration” and use biometric data to stop travellers with fake identities or who are overstaying, while also giving border and law enforcement agencies more access to traveller information.
After a six-month rollout, the EES kiosks will have fully replaced the ritual of the border officer’s stamps by April 2026.
And with the EES fully in place, this will pave the way for the launch of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) visa-waiver system in late 2026.
Source: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/eu-ees-australia-travel-rules
