European airports with fast passport scanning control
Back to Forum- This topic has 49 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 11 Apr 2015
at 10:43 by fatbear.
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MartynSinclairParticipantArriving at Frankfurt last night to a very lengthy Q at immigration, I was pleasantly surprised to see passport scanning border control for new style EU passports.
First time outside of the UK I have been able to use passport scanning to clear immigration..
From stepping off the aircraft (bus transfer to terminal & no checked bags) it took 15 minutes to get outside and into car.
Is this going to be a common feature across Europe???
4 Mar 2014
at 00:51
batterytravellerParticipantI assume it will be, given biometric passports are now universally issued in the EU. I can confirm that UK passports work in the E-gates in Australia and the gates are a lot faster than the UK ones.
4 Mar 2014
at 01:19
splinter49ParticipantDoes this means we can use Australian E passports also in Europe, like Amsterdam?
5 Mar 2014
at 03:41
batterytravellerParticipantNot sure, but one of the reasons Australia can do it is a completely computerised visa system, no stickers or stamps any more. I’m not sure the schengen countries have got that far yet.
5 Mar 2014
at 05:30
janrotterdamParticipantAmsterdam Schiphol Airport has these facilities, although I am not sure for which passports it is valid
5 Mar 2014
at 07:10
ChrisHurreyParticipantI am a former UK Immigration Assistant Director now working as a consultant for ‘FastPass’, an EU-funded project to improve the ease of use and functionality of automated border control gates at EU ports of entry. I was closely involved with the design of the UK’s IRIS system, as well as the current UK e-Gates. Having admitted my crimes, I’d now like to ask for Business Traveller readers’ feedback on self-service passport control in general – experiences, gripes, suggestions etc. The FastPass project is very keen to get the views of users, especially frequent fliers, to assist in the design of future systems.
3 Oct 2014
at 16:26
DavidGordon10ParticipantMy UK biometric passports (both of them) work a treat in Madrid, Lisbon, Porto, Prague and many others.
They always fail at the e-gates in UK airports.
3 Oct 2014
at 16:54
LuganoPirateParticipantMy new UK passport which I received in exactly 3 weeks at the height of the travel chaos worked a treat when i arrived at LHR last week.
As to the Schengen question, Zurich has also implemented the new machines. Schengen Mark 2 as the immigration officer told me when I remarked on them.
3 Oct 2014
at 18:41
MartynSinclairParticipantPassport scanning is getting faster and the Q’s are moving quicker.
Only ‘observation’ – some scanners want the passport inserted to the right, some to the left and some to the middle of the scanner. It would be useful if all scanners would allow the passports to be inserted the same way. Delays are usually caused (and I admit guilt here) trying to work out how to slide the passport in to the scanner.
4 Oct 2014
at 09:04
ChrisHurreyParticipantThanks to all for the feedback so far.
Martyn, as far as I recall passport readers work best with the document inserted as far to the left as possible and pushed back as far as possible. David, ask the Border Force officer at the monitoring station (just behind the gates, big PC screen) if (s)he can tell you why the passport scan or face matching failed. I will raise it with the system admin guys.
EU e-gates accept only European Union e-Passports (with the chip symbol on the front) and the holders have to be aged 18 or over. The previous IRIS system was open to all nationalities, but you had to enrol before using IRIS for the first time. I think UK Border Force may be planning a similar scheme for the e-gates in the future.
4 Oct 2014
at 17:38
TerryMcManus24ParticipantLast 3-4 times entering Heathrow..spec T5…Nope……Wife gets through OK and even with assistance from the guy on standby ended up going through the “human” route but at least don’t have to re-Q…
5 Oct 2014
at 04:05 -
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