29/08/2025
🌍✈️ Important Travel Update for Europe 🇪🇺
Starting October 12, 2025, the EU will officially launch the EES (Entry/Exit System) — a new digital border system that will replace passport stamping for non-EU travelers visiting the Schengen Area.
🔑 What is the EES?
The Entry/Exit System will electronically collect:
• Traveler names & passport details
• Biometric data (fingerprints & facial scans)
• Exact entry and exit dates
This will apply across 30 Schengen countries, including Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and more.
⚠️ Why does this matter?
Until now, travelers had to keep track of the 90/180 rule themselves — meaning you could stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days within any rolling 180-day period. Overstaying could lead to fines, bans, or problems at future entries.
With the new EES, the system will automatically log and calculate your days. No more counting stamps, no more confusion — but it also means the EU will strictly enforce the 90-day rule.
✨ Our perspective:
We’ve helped many friends and clients with Italian citizenship, elective residency visas, and long-term stays. For them, this change is huge. It makes things clearer and faster at border control, and I’ve personally used it at Rome airport during testing — it truly sped things up.
🔮 Important to note:
• This is not ETIAS (the new EU visa waiver program), which is expected in 2026.
• EES is only about border control, tracking, and compliance with existing rules.
• U.S. travelers still need to plan carefully: unless you have residency or dual citizenship, you are limited to 90 days in every rolling 180-day window.
💡 Bottom line:
The new system is meant to speed up travel, reduce errors, and enforce fair use of the Schengen 90-day limit. It’s a positive step, but also a reminder to plan carefully and understand the rules before booking long stays in Europe.
