British passport holders will probably be exempt from the EU’s new EES system all through the nation this summer time, its embassy has introduced.
British passport holders will probably be exempt from the EU’s new EES system all through the nation (Picture: Getty)
Greece has stated it’s going to exempt UK travellers from the EU’s new biometric registration requirement. Underneath the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), guests from non-EU nations, together with the UK, are to endure biometric knowledge assortment at borders as a part of the brand new bloc-wide entry course of.
Nonetheless, on Friday (April 17), the Embassy of Greece within the UK stated that British residents is not going to be topic to those new guidelines, which might enable for a smoother, quicker journey to the nation’s sun-soaked islands and bustling cities this summer time.
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“Replace for British passport holders travelling to Greece,” a press release on the embassy’s web site stated, as of 6pm on Saturday. “Within the framework of the implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES), as of 10 April 2026, British passport holders are exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossing factors.”
British passport holders are set to be exempt from biometric registration, in line with the nation’s embassy (Picture: Hellenic Republic Greece within the UK)
There was no additional element of how lengthy the exemption would final, and FCDO journey recommendation for Greece had not been up to date as of 6pm on Saturday (April 18).
Commenting on the announcement, Britain’s ambassador to Greece, Eleni Skarveli, the UK director of the Greek Nationwide Tourism Organisation, posted on LinkedIn: “When excellent news arrives within the midst of a disaster, its influence is even larger.
“The exemption of British passport holders from biometric registration at Greek border crossing factors, efficient from 10 April 2026, is anticipated to considerably scale back ready instances and ease congestion at airports.”
The announcement will come as a significant aid for British travellers, notably amid ongoing considerations over lengthy queues and delays at border controls because of the EES roll-out.
Brits have already been celebrating not having to endure EES checks at Greek airports on Fb. In a submit on a “Journey Information” group with over 190,000 members, one wrote on Thursday: “Simply arrived in Athens, no EES at this time child (did not stamp my passport both).”
“Flew into Preveza final night time (solely flight that day) – the machines have been stacked towards the wall and switched on, however we have been all funnelled previous them straight to the traditional cubicles the place they scanned them on a pc system as per,” one other wrote, whereas a 3rd stated: “One other EU shambles”.
The EES is an automatic digital database that replaces handbook passport stamps by recording the biometric knowledge and keep length of non-EU travellers at Schengen borders. After years of technical delays and infrastructure setbacks, the system lastly reached full operational standing on April 10, aiming to reinforce safety whereas strictly imposing the 90-day customer restrict.
The Specific contacted the FCDO for remark, who declined to remark however famous that the implementation of the EES for British nationals arriving in Greece was a matter for Greek authorities.
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