Stay in France of less than 3 months: registration in the European Entry/Exit System (EES)

Verified 20 October 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Entry into service of the EES

The EES system has entered into service on 12 october 2025. It will be gradually deployed at border crossing points (airports, stations and ports), to be fully operational by 10 april 2026. During this 6-month phase-in period, it is possible that travelers' biometric data may not be collected at each border crossing point. In that case, passports will continue to be stamped as they are today.

You are a foreigner and you want to stay in France for less than 3 months ? Since October 12, 2025, whether or not you are subject to the requirement to have a short-stay visa, you are subject to a visa recording in the european entry/exit system (Entry Exit System - EES). This system is being deployed to external borders Member States of the Schengen area. It records the personal data as well as data on entry, exit and refusal of entry third-country nationals. Here is the information you need to know.

This system shall:

  • replace the stamping of passports and travel documents with a digital stamp,
  • automates the calculation of the length of stay on the territory of the Member States,
  • allows to detect in real time persons having overstayed.

The recording is performed by a border guard when crossing an external Schengen border (airport, port, international railway station).

You are concerned if you fill in the following 3 conditions :

  • You are national of a non-european country
  • Your stay is for a maximum of 3 months in France (or in another country of the Schengen area)
  • You do not have a residence permit (residence card) or a long-stay visa issued by a Schengen Member State.

However, depending on your nationality and situation, you may be exempted from registration in the EES system.

Persons to register in the EES system

Third-country nationals traveling to the Schengen area for a short stay (maximum duration of 90 days in a period of 180 days), whether or not they are subject to the short-stay visa requirement, will be required to be registered in the Entry/Exit System (EES).

Including :

  • Seasonal workers when their employment contract is less than 3 months, whether they hold a residence card or not,
  • Third-country nationals who are family members of an EU citizen and who do not have a ‘family member’ residence card.

Third-country nationals who are refused entry shall also be registered in the EES system.

Persons not required to register in the EES system

  • Nationals of European Union countries, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino
  • Holders of a passport issued by the Vatican City State
  • Third-country nationals in a long-stay situation: holders of a D visa, known as a long-stay visa, or a residence permit issued by France or another Member State
  • Persons with an employment contract or a school certificate of more than 3 months with a short-stay visa if they are subject to it, pending the issue of a residence permit: researchers, students, seasonal workers, volunteers in the context of a European volunteer, au pairs, workers transferring internally to their company who can attest (right to mobility)
  • Persons already benefiting from or benefiting from specific border verification exemption regimes: Heads of State, sovereigns and their delegations whose arrival has been announced through diplomatic channels; pilots and crew (aircraft, cargo ships, cruises, rail); seafarers (only when they remain on the right-of-way of the port where the vessel is moored); frontier workers; security and rescue services; persons with a border crossing permit or waiver or a document facilitating rail transit.

Registration in the input/output system (EES) will be carried out within the border crossing point (airport, port, train station, etc.) where the traveler crosses the external border of the Schengen area.

In order to be able to record the data necessary for the creation of their EES file, travelers will have 2 options :

  • They can go directly to the border control post for a border guard to collect the data and register in the EES system.
  • They can use a pre-registration device, of the “kiosk” or “tablet” type present at certain border crossing points. These fluidization devices allow a faster crossing of the border. Their use is optional and free of charge. The EES file will be validated by a border guard at the checkpoint.

The EES system shall collect, record and store the following data:

  • The data contained in the travel document(s) : surname, first name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, nationality, travel document number, 3-letter code of the country of issue of the travel document, travel document expiry date,
  • The location, thetime and the date of border crossing : entry into and exit from the Schengen area,
  • The biometric data of the traveler : facial biometrics (photo of the face) and, except for minors under 12, digital biometrics (fingerprints of the right hand, or otherwise of the left hand).

The collection of biometric data of third-country nationals concerned by the EES is mandatory. If the traveler refuses the collection of his biometric data, he will be refused entry into the Schengen territory.

The data collected by the pre-registration devices is different if you have been previously registered in the EES system:

If you are unknown to the system

If you have not crossed any external border of the Schengen area since EES entered into service on 12 October 2025, you will be subject to a first registration. The following data set is saved in your EES folder for the first time:

  • Name
  • First name(s)
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Gender
  • Nationality
  • Number of travel document
  • 3-letter code of the country of issue of the travel document
  • Expiry date of the travel document
  • Place, time and date of border crossing
  • Biometric data: facial biometrics (photo of the face) and, except for minors under 12 years, digital biometrics (fingerprint of the right hand, or otherwise of the left hand).
If you are already known to the system

If you have crossed an external border of the Schengen area since the entry into service of EES on 12 October 2025, your existing EES file shall be updated each time you cross an external border, recording the place, date and time of the crossing.

Your data is not stored in the system only for the purposes for which they were collected and for a precise duration :

  • Entry, exit or refusal of entry form: 3 years from the date of their creation
  • Individual files containing your personal data (including your biometric data): 3 years and 1 day from the date of your last exit or refusal of entry (if you have not been authorized to enter)
  • If no exit has been recorded in your individual file: 5 years from the date of end of the authorized stay.

At the end of each period, your data is automatically erased.

  • The authorities of European countries using the EES system, such as border, visa and immigration authorities, to verify your identity and determine whether you are allowed to enter or remain in the territory
  • Europol, who may also access your data for law enforcement purposes
  • Under strict conditions, your data may be transferred to another country (inside or outside the European Union) or an international organization (United Nations, International Organization for Migration or International Committee of the Red Cross) for return and/or law enforcement purposes.

You can access data concerning you. You also have a right to object, of a right of rectification and a right to restriction of processing of your data.

To exercise these rights or for any question about the processing of your data in this device, you can contact the Ministry of the Interior by electronic means: donnees-personnelles-dgef@interieur.gouv.fr.

This processing is controlled by the Ministry of the Interior's Data Protection Officer:

Ministerial Data Protection Officer – Ministry of the Interior – Place Beauvau – 75800 Paris Cedex 08.

If you feel, after contacting the Ministry of the Interior, that your computer rights and freedoms are not respected, you can submit a complaint to the National Commission for Information Technology and Freedoms (Cnil):

3 Place de Fontenoy - TSA 80715 - 75334 Paris Cedex 07.

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