App to ease new EES border control checks is now ready - how it will work

An app prepared by the EU to speed up the new Entry/Exit System (EES) digital borders checks by allowing pre-registration of some traveller data is now ready to use – though not yet available for download.

French officials say it is still too early to say if France will authorise its use at French borders.

Frontex, the EU borders agency, told The Connexion that the Travel to Europe app –

formerly QuickBorder – is capable of collecting most of the required data, apart from fingerprints.

Countries now have the final say on whether they wish to adopt it for use at their borders. 

A Frontex spokeswoman said they are not aware of the position of France and other countries on this.

EES to be 'phased in'? 

EES is due to launch this year and will require all non-EU/EEA/Swiss visitors to provide passport data, answers to travel questions, a facial image and a fingerprint scan when they come into or out of the Schengen area. 

The details will be saved in a database and entries and exits logged.

The scheme has been subject to delays and, since the latest postponement in November, no new start date has been announced.

Read more:  London-France Eurostar ends biometric check-in as station prepares for Entry-Exit System

It is now expected to be phased in and apply only at some external Schengen border points and/or to only a portion of eligible travellers at launch. 

The number of points and/or travellers will increase to full capacity during six months.

This change requires a new EU regulation to be adopted by the EU’s council and parliament. 

An EU source said it is possible it will happen this year but probably not in the first half. 

A summer or Christmas launch will also probably be avoided.

2025 launch date?

After the last delay in November, the council asked the EU’s agency for large-scale IT projects, EU-Lisa, to report with a ‘roadmap’, including dates, by late January. 

In mid-February, EU-Lisa said this had yet to be approved by its management.

A council spokesman said it is now likely to be addressed at the meeting of ministers of home affairs on March 6. 

The port of Dover reports it is now making use of a UK Department for Transport planning assumption that the launch will be in November.

“It is definitely not expected to start this summer. We are carrying on building infrastructure and waiting for some tech from the French,” a port spokesman said.

Read more: Port of Dover expects new EU border controls to be in place by November 2025

Neither the DfT nor the Home Office confirmed the November estimate.

How will app work?

Frontex says its app, to be used prior to travel, will not be obligatory. 

Passport data will be collected by placing a traveller’s mobile on a modern biometric passport, with a chip, and they will be able to take a selfie.

The data will be forwarded to the border guards and will be valid for one week.

The app asks for the person to give the country they are visiting and date of entry and exit. 

They can optionally add people travelling with them.

Questions are asked, including purpose of trip – study, work, tourism, family visit – length of stay,

if you have a return ticket, and how much money you have for the trip. “Someone else will provide for me” is an option.

A Frontex spokesman said border guards will still need to verify the data and app-users will not have an automatic right to cross the border. 

“Verification is expected to take significantly less time than collecting the data for the first time only at the border, especially the facial image.

The image is not taken from the passport chip and needs to be taken separately, which might sometimes require a few retries. 

Having alternative ways to pre-register data is especially important for groups such as older people and those with disabilities, or young children.”