Before Brexit, travelling to the continent was usually a breeze; you could be through border control and out of the airport for sun and a cocktail within half an hour of landing. But in the past six years, it has become a bureaucratic headache.
I landed in Stockholm Arlanda Airport – my first visit to the continent since its Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational – at 10.30am on Friday morning. A queue of 150 people ahead of me, waiting to have their biometric and passport details processed, was the last thing I wanted to see.
Europe’s new border rules seem, at times, shambolic. Non-EU travellers face border control queues of up to three hours in some places. Since the full implementation of EES on 10 April, at least two flights from Milan to the UK have left passengers stranded who hadn’t made it past the lengthy passport queues in time. Those travellers forked out hundreds of pounds for last-minute accommodation, food and drink and new flights home.
A week after the full rollout, Greece advised British passport holders that they are exempt from biometric checks at its borders, an announcement that contradicts EES rules.
All this confusion and red tape might put some off a European holiday this summer. But Sweden is one of two EU countries offering an easy way to shave time off an EES registration at their borders – the Travel to Europe app. I used it in the hope that it might cut down the hassle when I finally reached a border guard.
Chatting to other passengers in the queue, it seemed I was the only one who had heard of the Travel to Europe app. This little-known tool is currently only being used in full by Sweden, one of the 29 European countries where EES applies to third-country nationals.
The average time saving made per passenger is 23 seconds when pre-registering on the app before visiting a Schengen Area country, according to early data from Frontex, the company behind the app. The time saved would quickly add up in a queue of hundreds if they had all pre-registered. For 189 passengers from a full Boeing 737-800, for instance, the time saved would be more than an hour (72 minutes).
I registered on the app the day before my flight to Stockholm. The process took me six and a half minutes. It includes confirming eligibility for EES, accepting the privacy terms, selecting the country you are travelling to, your travel dates, your expected time of arrival, and whether you have a return ticket.
There are also questions about the purpose of the trip (e.g leisure or business), the type of accommodation you’re staying in, and how much money you have to cover your trip costs.
‘The queue at Stockholm Arlanda Airport seemed to move quickly with up to ten booths open, each with a border officer processing details,’ says Emma FeatherstoneWithin the app, you must also register a scan of your passport photo page, scan the chip in your passport using your phone, and take a selfie. You can register as many travellers as you like.
I joined the “all other passports” queue. My flight was one of four from the UK landing between 9am and 11am, according to tracking website Flightradar24, as well as one Tui flight from Punta Cana (Dominican Republic).
I saw a sign alerting passengers to EES as I entered the airport. It included a QR code for more information and was the first time on my journey that I had seen a reminder. There was no note when I checked in online for my flight, no announcements on board the plane, and I didn’t see any signs about EES at Stansted.
Signs at the airport inform travellers of EES rulesCraig McNulty, 29, from London, was near me in the queue. He was visiting Sweden for a long weekend with two friends. “The first time I heard [of EES] was you telling me now,” he said.
Signs above the queue flashed up three messages. They explained that the EU is introducing a new border system, that waits would be longer, and that travellers should prepare to have their photographs and fingerprints taken.
The queue seemed to move quickly with up to ten booths open, each with a border officer processing details.
When asked for my passport, I mentioned I had pre-registered the app. The border guard smiled and indicated she could see that on the system. She took my photo, then asked me to scan the fingers of my right hand. She also asked about the purpose of my visit, where I was staying, and whether I was just in Sweden for two days, as I had specified on the app. I wasn’t asked for the QR code generated by the app after you register a trip.
My full registration was completed in less than two minutes after queuing for 26 minutes. No one was visibly agitated as we waited, perhaps as the queue felt fairly fast-moving. As one British passenger passed through the barriers, I asked if she had expected the checks. “I come to Sweden quite often, so I knew there was going to be fingerprinting; it’s been like that for ages [here],” said Katie Stephens, 30, from London.
“I didn’t know there was an app. But fingerprinting is quite quick. Swedes follow the rules. Efficient is probably the word.
“Each time I’ve come, they’ve taken my fingerprints and photo, just to line them up against [the first ones taken]”.
The i Paper asked Frontex why more Schengen countries weren’t using the app. Chris Borowski, a spokesperson for the company, said: “EES itself is a hugely complex system to implement, and most border authorities have understandably focused on getting the core process running smoothly before layering the app on top.
“We don’t have specific information on which countries are next in line, but the expectation is that adoption will grow as EES becomes more established.”
The Swedish Police Authority was contacted for comment.
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