The European Commission has authorized member states to temporarily suspend biometric border checks, including fingerprint and facial recognition verification, in response to growing congestion at entry and exit points across Europe.
The decision follows mounting reports of long queues and delays since the full rollout of the Entry/Exit System on 10 April, with some travelers waiting over an hour at major airports and missing connecting flights.
Under the new measure, countries within the Schengen Area may revert to manual passport stamping during peak periods. However, the central EES database will remain operational, having already recorded around 61 million border crossings.
The temporary flexibility does not apply to Ireland and Cyprus, which are not part of the Schengen system. Despite this, major transit hubs such as Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport have experienced significant bottlenecks, with biometric gates becoming key congestion points.
Airlines will still be required to submit Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record data, but the temporary easing is expected to reduce cases of passengers being denied boarding due to missed connections.
Travel risk experts are advising companies to allow at least an additional 30 minutes for transit times while the impact of the changes is assessed. Corporate travel managers are also urged to update guidance, particularly for non-EU travelers, as the return to manual passport stamping could affect calculations of permitted stays under Schengen visa rules.
The European Commission said it will review the situation on a weekly basis and may reinstate full biometric checks once staffing levels and automated gate capacity are improved.
In the longer term, Brussels is accelerating efforts to roll out a digital EU visa system alongside the ETIAS, which is expected to come into force in October 2026, as part of a broader strategy to modernize border management and reduce congestion.
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