A critical IT failure inside France’s Police aux Frontières (PAF) systems at the Port of Dover paralysed juxtaposed exit checks early on Saturday, 20 December. With nearly 30,000 cars and hundreds of coaches booked to sail Dover–Calais over the long holiday weekend, the glitch immediately generated kilometre-long tailbacks on the A20 and A2 approach roads. Operators P&O Ferries and DFDS warned passengers not to arrive more than two hours before sailing, while Dover Harbour staff redirected traffic into holding buffers to protect local towns.
The outage is the latest stress-test for the Franco-British juxtaposed-control model. Under the Le Touquet treaty, French officers stamp non-EU passports before boarding; when their biometric and passport databases went offline, booths were reduced to manual processing, cutting hourly throughput by up to 60 percent. Freight drivers carrying just-in-time components for French factories were forced to re-route via Eurotunnel, adding costs and CO₂ emissions.
Business-travel planners are advising companies to build a minimum four-hour buffer into itineraries between the UK and northern France this weekend. Travellers connecting to onward rail from Calais-Fréthun risk missing TGVs and may have to rebook at last-minute prices. HR teams relocating staff over the holiday period have been told to ensure visa validity is at least 90 days, as overstays caused by transport disruption are not usually excused by the French border police.
![French border-control IT outage snarls Dover–Calais ferries at start of Christmas rush]()
In light of this uncertainty, travellers can lean on VisaHQ’s end-to-end visa and passport services to confirm they hold the right documentation before setting out. The company’s France resource centre (https://www.visahq.com/france/) provides real-time eligibility checks, expedited processing options and proactive alerts about rule changes—helping both holidaymakers and corporate mobility teams avoid last-minute surprises.
The incident also highlights lingering concerns about resilience ahead of the 2026 rollout of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES). Ports must capture fingerprints and facial images for most third-country travellers—a process that could double processing time unless technology proves robust. Saturday’s failure will be analysed closely by the French Interior Ministry and the Port of Dover when they rehearse EES again in early 2026.
In the meantime, employers with transferees scheduled to drive Dover–Calais are pivoting to Eurostar or short-haul flights, despite higher costs. Mobility risk advisers recommend keeping copies of employment contracts and assignment letters on hand so travellers can prove the purpose of their trip if secondary checks are imposed while IT fixes are applied.
The outage is the latest stress-test for the Franco-British juxtaposed-control model. Under the Le Touquet treaty, French officers stamp non-EU passports before boarding; when their biometric and passport databases went offline, booths were reduced to manual processing, cutting hourly throughput by up to 60 percent. Freight drivers carrying just-in-time components for French factories were forced to re-route via Eurotunnel, adding costs and CO₂ emissions.
Business-travel planners are advising companies to build a minimum four-hour buffer into itineraries between the UK and northern France this weekend. Travellers connecting to onward rail from Calais-Fréthun risk missing TGVs and may have to rebook at last-minute prices. HR teams relocating staff over the holiday period have been told to ensure visa validity is at least 90 days, as overstays caused by transport disruption are not usually excused by the French border police.
In light of this uncertainty, travellers can lean on VisaHQ’s end-to-end visa and passport services to confirm they hold the right documentation before setting out. The company’s France resource centre (https://www.visahq.com/france/) provides real-time eligibility checks, expedited processing options and proactive alerts about rule changes—helping both holidaymakers and corporate mobility teams avoid last-minute surprises.
The incident also highlights lingering concerns about resilience ahead of the 2026 rollout of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES). Ports must capture fingerprints and facial images for most third-country travellers—a process that could double processing time unless technology proves robust. Saturday’s failure will be analysed closely by the French Interior Ministry and the Port of Dover when they rehearse EES again in early 2026.
In the meantime, employers with transferees scheduled to drive Dover–Calais are pivoting to Eurostar or short-haul flights, despite higher costs. Mobility risk advisers recommend keeping copies of employment contracts and assignment letters on hand so travellers can prove the purpose of their trip if secondary checks are imposed while IT fixes are applied.
