EU releases new travel rules for Australian visitors
Those passport stamps will be a thing of the past…
By David Flynn, August 21 2024
One of the simplest delights of travel used to be thumbing through your passport, when stamps from visits to countries near and far and each would bring forth bright memories of your adventures.
Sadly, those colourful stamps have fallen victim to the unrelenting march of technology as digital immigration systems have taken hold – and all of Europe is next on the list.
European border stations will no longer stamp passports as of 10 November 2024, when the EU moves to a biometric-based Entry-Exit System (EES).
“When that happens, it will be goodbye to passport stamping, hello to digital checks for all passengers from outside the EU,” according to EU commissioner Ylva Johansson.
“At every single airport, every single harbour and every single road into Europe, we will have digital border controls” which will all go live on 10 November, “making travel easier and border checks gradually faster.”
Those checkpoints will rely on digital photographs and fingerprints for registering travellers from all non-EU countries.
It will apply to both short-stay visa holders and visa-exempt travellers.
The EES also sets the stage for the introduction of a mandatory electronic visa waiver - the long-delayed European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) – in the first half of 2025, Johansson said.
Similar to the United States’ ESTA program, and the UK ETA launching later this year, Europe’s electronic travel authorisation will cost €7 (A$11.50) and be valid for three years.
Also read: Australia is finally ditching the incoming passenger card
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2013
Total posts 381
I find this quite sad. Yes, it's nostalgic, but looking through your passport to see where you've been over the years brings back some wonderful memories.
09 Feb 2021
Total posts 14
I very much doubt this. Firstly, it costs an extra €7 that you didn't have to pay before. Secondly, they're going to fingerprint people, which is a hassle taking several minutes per traveller.
I predict the greatest chaos will be at Calais and other entry points from the UK to the EU.
05 Mar 2015
Total posts 410
I'm definitely going to miss those passport stamps, when I look through my old thick 'frequent traveller' passports which accompanied me on a lot of European trips from 1995-2015, which were two very busy decades of travel for me. I can just be sitting in an airport lounge or on a flight in some idle moment, would glance through the passport and yes, all those wonderful memories!
05 Mar 2015
Total posts 410
The fingerprinting for every first time visitor is going to be the big choke-point at the start of this, but the following year when there are more returning visitors and they already have a 'profile' things should get faster?
Etihad - Etihad Guest
21 Jul 2019
Total posts 186
I've kept all my passports (Australian and foreign) since my first issued in 1980 (as a 4 year old lad). It's amazing how focusing on any one particular airport/country stamp brings locked memories flooding back. Cairo to see the Pyramids. Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Honolulu for the beaches. London for...everything(!) New York for the museums...etc etc.
800+ trips over 44 years = lots and lots of stamps and as many wonderful memories. Yes, I'll miss stamps.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 May 2018
Total posts 74
Singapore has a requirement for a photograph and right thumb print. I only took 30 secs to get through. The US takes fingerprints of passengers (first visit) and that doesn't take much time.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2013
Total posts 144
It is the way to go. Much better than a human trying to ask for more info like return journey details, or where you are staying, and how long do you plan to be there etc etc. There is nothing worse than getting stuck behind a passenger who the officer wants to keep on chatting away or asking questions away!
05 Oct 2017
Total posts 526
Who says they won't still be asking questions? The only change here is no more passport stamps.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 34
I enrolled voluntarily in the similar Hong Kong visitor program with fingerprint and photo. Haven't been asked a question since. Just sail straight through.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 34
I agree! If it can get rid of the pointless interrogation I'm all for it. For some reason I seem to often get picked on for a large number of pointless questions when entering Europe. It seems like a lot of the immigration people are just having fun with it, but it's so annoying. As a 55 yo Australian who has visited Europe for multiple short holidays over the years, and always managed to leave, why the need for the questioning? Since the automated arrivals into the UK for Australians took effect, it's been an absolute pleasure not to have to talk to them!
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
20 Jun 2013
Total posts 63
Another "joy" of travel to disappear.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Sep 2017
Total posts 9
Won't miss at all. Pain in the arse. As a very frequent traveler in and out of Europe, every time I get a stamp, in AND out, takes up valuable real estate space in my Australian passport, the worlds biggest rip-off. As a holder of the worlds most expensive passport, good riddance I say. At least the passports will last longer. But I guess the taxpayer funded bludgers in Canberra will find another way to rip us off.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 747
Let's hope those airports retain at least one (1) 'Stamping Station/Desk' for travel enthusiasts to get their passport stamped, even if that stamping process per se isn't an integral part of immigration controls.
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1562
For me it is sad like loosing all those valuables memory due to loosing old photos. The best was not even rubber stumps, but real one that they been gluing in passport like they been doing in Japan. Plus real colorful visas also glued in passport. All those nostalgia gone altogether with B747.
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