How Brits in Germany can prove they are exempt from EES border checks

The European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is a biometric border control scheme designed to replace manual passport stamping for non-EU travellers entering and leaving the Schengen Area.

This new scheme, which involves taking fingerprints and facial scans from non-EU travellers, will gradually replace the current system of manual passport stamps.

The EU has asked each country to have at least one point of entry operating EES checks from October 12th. In Germany, Düsseldorf is set to be the first airport to roll it out. 

EES, intended to help enforce the 90-days-in-180 rule for short stays in the Schengen zone, will then be phased in over six months with all German air and sea borders expected to be fully operational by April 2026.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about the start of EES checks at German airports

Who is exempt from EES?

Not everyone crossing into the Schengen Area will be subject to the new EES checks. The following groups are exempt:

• EU passport holders (including all 27 EU member states), provided they are over the age of 12.
• Citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA)—Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.
• Swiss nationals.
• Non-EU and non-EEA residents who hold a valid German residence permit or long-term visa and possess a valid electronic passport (over the age of 12).
• People aged 18 and over from the USA, Taiwan, South Korea, or Hong Kong who are registered for the EasyPASS Registered Traveller Programme (RTP)

Are British residents in Germany exempt from EES?

If you are a British national living in Germany with a valid residence permit or long-term visa, you do not need to register for EES when entering or leaving Germany. This exemption applies regardless of whether your residence status is temporary or permanent and includes post-Brexit residence permits.

READ ALSO: How will the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

But to benefit from this exemption, British residents must hold a valid passport and a valid German residence permit or long-term visa.

Accepted residence permits include:

• Ordinary residence permits (Aufenthaltserlaubnis)
• Permanent residence permits (Niederlassungserlaubnis, Daueraufenthaltskarte, Erlaubnis zum Daueraufenthalt EU)
• Permits for spouses of EU citizens (Aufenthaltskarte für Familienangehörige von Unionsbürgern)
• EU Blue Cards
• ICT cards
• Post-Brexit residence permits (Aufenthaltstitel-GB)

Your residence permit must be electronic and display the e-ID symbol. Temporary documents such as the Fiktionsbescheinigung (issued in certain circumstances by the Foreigners Authority) are also accepted.

What do you have to do at the border?

When travelling, you should always carry your British passport and valid German electronic residence permit

At the border, use the manned passport control booths rather than the automated e-gates, unless you have registered for EasyPASS. 

What is EasyPASS?

The EasyPASS Registered Traveller Program (RTP) is a system primarily aimed at frequent travellers and open to citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the US, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan with a valid e-passport.

READ ALSO: Can foreign arrivals use the e-gates at German airports?

British citizens legally resident in Germany, who have registered for EasyPass, can use automated e-gates without registering for EES.

British citizens who have already registered for the system will generally have to register again with the introduction of this new system.

Registering for EasyPass is free of charge but has to be carried out in person at a service office of the German Federal Police. A list of locations is available here.