Below follows the Govenrment's Technical Notice regarding the Schengen Entry/Exit System:

As of 12th October 2025, the Schengen Entry/Exit System (the “EES”) is being progressively deployed across external borders of the Schengen Area.

The public will be aware that the EES is the Schengen Area’s new digital border management system which records the entry and exit of non-EU citizens at borders shared between Schengen states and non-Schengen states.

The EES replaces the old system of manual passport stamping (“wet” stamping) with biometric checks. 

Further details with respect to what the EES is and how it applies can be sought from the Government’s Technical Notice on the subject published on 23 July 2024, from the European Commission’s dedicated EES website and from guidance published by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. 

As stated above, the EES is being progressively deployed. 

It will be implemented gradually over a period of 6 months meaning that over such period it will not be applied at every external border of the Schengen Area. Even where the EES is being applied at a particular border during this period, the EES may be applied without biometric functionalities. This progressive implementation period will end on 10 April 2026. By this date the EES will apply, in full, at every external border of the Schengen Area. 

The border between Gibraltar and Spain. 

It has been reported that the Spanish authorities will presently not apply the EES at the land border between Gibraltar and Spain, in keeping with the latitude afforded to them during the progressive implementation period 

Crossing other borders between Schengen and non-Schengen states. 

If you are crossing other borders between a Schengen and a non-Schengen state, it is possible that the EES may be in operation at the particular border being crossed. If the EES is in operation at the border that you are crossing, and you are a non-EU citizen, you may be required to register on the EES.

With respect to borders shared between Spain and non-Schengen states, the Spanish Government has said that it will initially start testing the EES in Madrid’s Barajas-Adolfo Suarez Airport. This will change and the EES will be applied at more borders between Spain and non-Schengen states as Spain progressively implements the EES. For instance, further along the progressive implementation period, it is possible that the EES will be applied at Malaga Airport with respect to flights departing to and arriving from non-Schengen destinations (e.g. a flight to or from London, but not a flight to or from Rome or Paris). 

With respect to other borders shared between Schengen and non-Schengen states, it is recommended that you check beforehand whether the EES is being applied, during the progressive implementation period, at the border which you plan to cross. You should do so in order to, for example, factor in potential delays to the process of clearing Schengen border controls. 

Eventual application oftreaty arrangements. 

The intention, as evidenced by the political agreement reached on 11 June 2025 with respect to our future treaty arrangements with the EU, is not to have the EES applied at the border between Gibraltar and Spain – not now or at any point in the future. This will be the case since our future arrangements with the European Union envisage that there will be no routine immigration controls between Gibraltar and Spain or Gibraltar and the rest of the Schengen Area. 

Moreover, the treaty arrangements are designed to exempt from EES requirements, at all Schengen external border crossing points, persons who are legally resident in Gibraltar (i.e. persons who are holders of Gibraltar civilian registration cards irrespective of nationality) and persons who are holders of Gibraltar identity cards. 

Alongside the UK Government, HM Government of Gibraltar continues to work on finalising the legal text of this agreement as soon as possible. 

The 29 Schengen states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.