British holiday-makers and cross-border consultants are reporting waits of up to four hours at several European airports as the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) enters its final trial phase. A London-based travel-risk blog, *London Business Insider*, logged incidents at Madrid-Barajas, Schiphol and Paris-CDG on 12–13 February, blaming biometric-kiosk outages and short-staffing among French border police.
Under EES, UK passport holders – now ‘third-country nationals’ – must provide fingerprints and a facial image on first entry after 1 October 2025, with full implementation set for 9 April 2026. While most UK travellers will complete enrolment abroad, those using Eurostar or the Port of Dover must register before departure, creating potential bottlenecks on UK soil.
If the new procedures feel daunting, specialist firms such as VisaHQ can simplify the process. Through its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), the company offers step-by-step guidance on EES enrolment, Schengen documentation and appointment scheduling, giving travellers one less queue to worry about on departure day.
![Four-hour queues for UK travellers as EU Entry/Exit System trials hit teething problems]()
Eurostar says its new processing halls at St Pancras can handle 1,800 passengers per hour, but only if all 49 kiosks are operational. Travel-management companies are advising corporate clients to build an extra 90 minutes into itineraries and to avoid tight same-day connections.
Frequent travellers should also track the 90-day rule: the EES database automatically counts days spent in Schengen and could trigger overstay fines if staff fail to monitor trips logged under multiple passports. Mobility managers may wish to pilot dedicated tracking apps or outsource Schengen-stay audits to immigration vendors until the system stabilises.
The European Commission insists the delays are temporary and says additional staff will be deployed over Easter. Nevertheless, UK firms with time-sensitive client meetings on the continent should factor the new friction into service-level agreements.
Under EES, UK passport holders – now ‘third-country nationals’ – must provide fingerprints and a facial image on first entry after 1 October 2025, with full implementation set for 9 April 2026. While most UK travellers will complete enrolment abroad, those using Eurostar or the Port of Dover must register before departure, creating potential bottlenecks on UK soil.
If the new procedures feel daunting, specialist firms such as VisaHQ can simplify the process. Through its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), the company offers step-by-step guidance on EES enrolment, Schengen documentation and appointment scheduling, giving travellers one less queue to worry about on departure day.
Eurostar says its new processing halls at St Pancras can handle 1,800 passengers per hour, but only if all 49 kiosks are operational. Travel-management companies are advising corporate clients to build an extra 90 minutes into itineraries and to avoid tight same-day connections.
Frequent travellers should also track the 90-day rule: the EES database automatically counts days spent in Schengen and could trigger overstay fines if staff fail to monitor trips logged under multiple passports. Mobility managers may wish to pilot dedicated tracking apps or outsource Schengen-stay audits to immigration vendors until the system stabilises.
The European Commission insists the delays are temporary and says additional staff will be deployed over Easter. Nevertheless, UK firms with time-sensitive client meetings on the continent should factor the new friction into service-level agreements.
