Cyprus woke up on 23 February to welcome news for anyone planning a trip to, from or through the island in the coming months. While most of Europe braces for the launch of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) on 10 April 2026—a vast biometric database that will replace the familiar passport stamp—Cyprus will sit the roll-out out. Because the Republic remains outside the Schengen Area, its airports and seaports will continue the traditional ink-stamp routine for third-country nationals. For holiday-makers and business travellers alike, the decision means no extra queuing for fingerprint scans or facial-image capture when entering Cyprus.
The EES is designed to log every non-EU traveller’s movements across the Schengen frontier, tightening security and automatically calculating how long a visitor has stayed. In early pilot runs, however, airports in Spain and France reported bottlenecks as passengers struggled with unfamiliar kiosks and border guards were retrained. By staying outside the scheme—at least for now—Cyprus hopes to market itself as a hassle-free Mediterranean alternative for tourists anxious about post-pandemic travel frictions.
![Cyprus Exempt from EU’s New Biometric Border System—What Travellers Need to Know]()
For travellers keen to navigate Cyprus’s stamp-and-go regime confidently—or to secure visas for onward journeys—services such as VisaHQ can simplify the process. Their Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) provides current guidance on entry requirements, Schengen transit needs, and residence documentation, and can submit applications on your behalf, saving time and avoiding last-minute surprises.
The exemption is not absolute. British nationals resident on the island who still hold the old yellow-slip registration certificate must remember that they fall back under EES rules whenever they fly onward to a Schengen country. Authorities in Nicosia are urging those expatriates to exchange their slip for the newer biometric residence card before the April deadline to avoid being fingerprinted on arrival in Spain, Greece or elsewhere.
Longer term, Cyprus still wants in. The European Commission is due to publish a “special evaluation report” on Cyprus’ technical readiness for Schengen accession before the end of February. If Brussels gives the green light, EU ministers could vote later this year on admitting the island—meaning that today’s reprieve from EES queues may be short-lived. Officials say the government is determined to join by 2027, bringing full freedom of movement (and the biometric checks that go with it) to Cypriot borders. Until that day, however, travellers can enjoy the reassuring thump of a rubber stamp at Larnaca and Paphos.
The EES is designed to log every non-EU traveller’s movements across the Schengen frontier, tightening security and automatically calculating how long a visitor has stayed. In early pilot runs, however, airports in Spain and France reported bottlenecks as passengers struggled with unfamiliar kiosks and border guards were retrained. By staying outside the scheme—at least for now—Cyprus hopes to market itself as a hassle-free Mediterranean alternative for tourists anxious about post-pandemic travel frictions.
For travellers keen to navigate Cyprus’s stamp-and-go regime confidently—or to secure visas for onward journeys—services such as VisaHQ can simplify the process. Their Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) provides current guidance on entry requirements, Schengen transit needs, and residence documentation, and can submit applications on your behalf, saving time and avoiding last-minute surprises.
The exemption is not absolute. British nationals resident on the island who still hold the old yellow-slip registration certificate must remember that they fall back under EES rules whenever they fly onward to a Schengen country. Authorities in Nicosia are urging those expatriates to exchange their slip for the newer biometric residence card before the April deadline to avoid being fingerprinted on arrival in Spain, Greece or elsewhere.
Longer term, Cyprus still wants in. The European Commission is due to publish a “special evaluation report” on Cyprus’ technical readiness for Schengen accession before the end of February. If Brussels gives the green light, EU ministers could vote later this year on admitting the island—meaning that today’s reprieve from EES queues may be short-lived. Officials say the government is determined to join by 2027, bringing full freedom of movement (and the biometric checks that go with it) to Cypriot borders. Until that day, however, travellers can enjoy the reassuring thump of a rubber stamp at Larnaca and Paphos.
