British Withdrawal-Agreement holders and the estimated 35,000 American residents with **cartes de séjour** face longer queues at French borders after officials acknowledged on 4 February that PARAFE facial-recognition e-gates cannot yet verify non-EU residency against national databases.
The gates—made by Thales and in service since 2009—were widely used by third-country residents until France switched them off in October 2025 to integrate the new Entry/Exit System (EES). Engineers hoped to relaunch resident access before Easter, but airport association UAF now says software upgrades will not be fully ready before “early summer”.
For affected travellers this means repeated biometric captures at staffed booths each time they enter or leave France, even if they believe they are already registered in EES. Complaints have mounted at Paris-CDG, Orly and Nice, where peak-time waits exceed 60 minutes.
![PARAFE e-gate glitch keeps UK & US residents in manual queues until summer]()
Travellers who need personalised guidance on French residency or visa formalities can turn to VisaHQ for up-to-date support. The company’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) tracks the latest border-control changes, helps with carte de séjour renewals and provides rapid visa or travel-document solutions—useful tools for organisations trying to keep schedules on course while PARAFE access remains restricted.
Travel-programme managers should (1) build extra buffer time into itineraries, (2) brief staff to expect fingerprint and facial scans at every trip, and (3) consider fast-track meet-and-assist services for VIPs. Airlines are also revisiting minimum connection times for non-EU residents transiting in Paris.
Officials insist the fix is a priority and say a new algorithm will allow PARAFE to recognise residency cards once the EES database is fully synchronised. Until then, mobility planners must treat PARAFE access for non-EU residents as unavailable.
The gates—made by Thales and in service since 2009—were widely used by third-country residents until France switched them off in October 2025 to integrate the new Entry/Exit System (EES). Engineers hoped to relaunch resident access before Easter, but airport association UAF now says software upgrades will not be fully ready before “early summer”.
For affected travellers this means repeated biometric captures at staffed booths each time they enter or leave France, even if they believe they are already registered in EES. Complaints have mounted at Paris-CDG, Orly and Nice, where peak-time waits exceed 60 minutes.
Travellers who need personalised guidance on French residency or visa formalities can turn to VisaHQ for up-to-date support. The company’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) tracks the latest border-control changes, helps with carte de séjour renewals and provides rapid visa or travel-document solutions—useful tools for organisations trying to keep schedules on course while PARAFE access remains restricted.
Travel-programme managers should (1) build extra buffer time into itineraries, (2) brief staff to expect fingerprint and facial scans at every trip, and (3) consider fast-track meet-and-assist services for VIPs. Airlines are also revisiting minimum connection times for non-EU residents transiting in Paris.
Officials insist the fix is a priority and say a new algorithm will allow PARAFE to recognise residency cards once the EES database is fully synchronised. Until then, mobility planners must treat PARAFE access for non-EU residents as unavailable.
