Oct 12th was the rollout for the Entry/Exit System across the Schengen zone countries. I was wondering if anyone had the experience with the system at a Portuguese airport recently. I understand that long term residents of the EU are exempt from the EES.
Iâm happy to see a thread in this forum on this topic because Iâve not found anything definitive on this topic for us foreigners who have resident cards in Portugal. As I understand it:
(1) we will not have to register our biometrics with the ETIAS system in order to be scanned in and out using the EES e-gates because our legal residency will be automatically registered with EES by the Portuguese authorities. Well, letâs see if that works out haha.
(2) there will be a single EES system operating across the entire Schengen area and so we will be exempt in practice from the 90/180 rule because the EES will know we are legally resident in one member state. It doesnât mean we can live and work in other European countries but there wonât be a separate 90/180 count for Portugal vs rest of EU therefore in practice it becomes a moot issue for us (as indeed it already is if we drive a car over to, say, Spain for months on end).
However, Iâve not seen any official announcements from Portugal to legal residents about any of this. Itâs also not clear how the EES system will deal with legal residents whose cards have expired and not been renewed because of AIMA delays and are therefore still valid in Portugal despite what their expiry date says,
Anyway, as I say, Iâm happy to see a discussion here on this topic because doubtless all this will become clearer over the coming months and we can share experiences and progress.
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When a plane arrives from a non-Schengen country and dumps out 300 or so passengers, in practice the stewards will likely just look at the cover of your passport and say âGo to that queueâ (e.g. non-EU for non-Schengen). Whether theyâll have time/interest to look at your card is debatable.
Also if youâre on a PT GV and want to have another record of your days in PT for visa renewal purposes, then maybe you want to have your entry/exit logged, no?
tbh, Iâve used the e-gates in Funchal for my last couple trips in Aug. and Sept., and prefer them to the grilling by a Border Agent (âYes I have a house here. No I donât have my GV yet. Yes AIMA is a complete sh** show.â).
Iâve seen statements like the following, but theyâre still rather vague. I expect for at least the first 6 months the implementation will be quite random 
According to the Internal Security System (ISS), the new European automated external border control system, the Entry/Exit System (EES), âapplies to all non-EU citizens entering the territory for short stays (up to 90 days in a 180-day period), regardless of whether they require a visa.â
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EES does not apply to holders of residence permits and long-stay visas.
However, most of us do not have a card!
Iâm still thinking if youâre on a PT ARI and want to prove your 7 or 14 days in-country, then clocking in/out with EES would be a âvery officialâ way of doing so. Much more official than NIFs where anybody can provide your NIF at a shop.
So if Iâm given a choice (when I finally get my card!), Iâd like an EES record of my entry/exit*
*in whatever queue they put residence visa card holders through
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On PTâs âSistema de Segurança Internaâ page, the following update from 10-Oct suggests that Portugal wonât start fingerprinting for EES until December?
At first entry, four fingerprints and a photograph are collected, applicable from December onwards;
https://ssi.gov.pt/comunicacao/noticias/novo-sistema-europeu-de-controlo-de-fronteiras
And yes, like the Blevins article above, the EU EES page says:
The EES does not apply to:
- Holders of residence permits and long-stay visas
NIF was never suggested as the only evidence, just as complementary evidence. Should always be combined with stamps, boarding passes, hotel bookings etc.
Ah, but no more passport stamps. And if entry/exits of âHolders of residence permitsâ are not logged under EES either, a key evidence trail goes cold.
The EES kiosk begins by asking if you are an EU citizen, or if you have a visa, a residence permit or other. If you pick visa or other it would ask a series of questions regarding accommodation, funds and health insurance and the usual passport scanning and biometrics. I have never seen what happens if someone picks the residence permit option but I imagine it could either let you go on your way or that it would ask you to scan the residence card as well.
Either way the presence of the residence permit button speaks loudly about their intention to expand EES registration in the future to include residence permit holders as well. EU citizens might follow too.
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Appears that it will prompt if you are a long term EU resident like the photo. I assume you would need to indicate âYesâ in order to bypass the biometrics ??
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The new European border control system for non-EU citizens went live on Sunday in Portugal and other Schengen countries. Entry and exit of travellers from third countries will now be recorded electronically, indicating the date, time, and border crossing point, replacing traditional passport stamps.
According to the SSI, the border crossing that recorded the highest number of entries into the country was Lisbon (5,751), followed by Faro (3,065) and Porto (1,441).
According to the SSI, the information is shared in real time with the authorities of the Schengen countries through a centralised system that is interoperable with other European security databases (such as the Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the Visa Information System (VIS).
In Portugal, the SSI is responsible for implementing the system, in collaboration with the PSP (Public Security Police), the GNR (National Guard), ANA (Airports of Portugal), port authorities, and the National Civil Aviation Authority.
You would think that they would connect the system to AIMA so that we wouldnât have to collect all these receipts / boarding cards / etc.
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Looks like this is being done in a sensible phased approach. The 5k figure is just a proportion of non-schengen arrivals (<25%?) and no reports of passengers complaining of additional delays in the press yet either.
Tested the new system earlier today by entering an EU country with an âexpiredâ PT GV card.
Joined the same long queue with all the non-EU tourists, showed my âexpiredâ card to the border person along with some carefully prepared printouts from multiple Portuguese laws explaining how my card is not really expired (all in the original Portuguese language of course for a proper effect).
Got my stamp and went in.
No need to do any fingers or face recon.
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Are you trying to understand Portuguese bureaucracy as well???
Bravo, Tommy. It appears this is the first success story of trying to enter non-PT Schengen border with an âexpiredâ permit.
Does anyone know if it is the EES system that requires the new biometrics (fingers and face recon) or the upcoming ETIAS authorisation system?
There are already reports online of lengthy queues at LIS of course due to the new system. Weâre due to go to New York a week on Friday for a few days so Iâm planning to get to LIS hours and hours in advance for our 12.15pm departure despite our fast track security and hand luggage only.
Really, this airport for non-Schengen flights is the outlying PITA about living in this city. I am ever hopeful that the EES and ETIAS will eventually make flying less excruciating for us non-European residents.
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- EES (Entry/Exit System) - 6-month rollout started last Sunday 12th. Biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) collected on first entry. Some countries (e.g. Czech Republic, Estonia) went âbig bangâ and implemented EES fully on the 12th (Pragueâs Day 1 was messy, quelle surprise). Most countries are gradually introducing it. During the initial rollout, ports can fall-back to old ways if EES queues get out of hand. (Lisbon often had awful queues even before EES!)
- ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) - supposed to launch Q4 '26. New travel pre-authorisation system (and 20⏠fee)⌠much like the US ESTA or UK ETA that have been around for a while.
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Yes, it is the EES.
It was the same on the way out, by default the border control wants to scan your fingers, but as I showed them my âexpiredâ GV card they just stamped my passport and let me âout of Schengenâ.
Iâm glad Iâm not going until November. Maybe this will have settled some by then.
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