Guides

Passports and Entry to Europe: EES, ETIAS and the 90-Day Rule

By Colin Bragg · October 31, 2026 · Checked against gov.uk and the EU's official sites

Crossing into Europe has changed. Passports are no longer stamped at most borders; instead, the EU now takes your fingerprints and photo. A travel authorization, ETIAS, is on its way. And for UK passport holders, the rules on how old a passport can be can catch people out at the airport. Here's what UK and US travelers need to know, and how the UK's own ETA and the US ESTA work the other way.

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Passport rules

UK passports

To enter a Schengen country, such as France, Spain, Italy or Germany, your UK passport must:

• have a date of issue less than 10 years before the date you arrive, and
• have an expiry date at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area.

The first rule is the one that catches people. If you renewed your passport before October 1, 2018, extra months from your old passport may have been added to the new one, so it can be more than 10 years old before it expires. The expiry date doesn't matter for the first rule; the date of issue does. Check both dates, against both rules, before you book.

Cyprus has the same two rules, and your passport needs at least one blank page for stamps. Ireland isn't in the Schengen area and has its own arrangements with the UK; see gov.uk's travel advice for Ireland.

US passports

The EU says your passport should be valid for at least three months after you plan to leave, with some exceptions. Some countries advise more, so check the US State Department's page for each country you'll visit at travel.state.gov.

The 90-day rule

UK and US citizens can visit the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. It's a rolling count: on any day you're there, look back 180 days, and the days you've spent in Schengen countries in that time, including this trip, must add up to 90 or fewer.

The days count across all 29 countries together, not per country: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Cyprus counts its days separately, and Ireland isn't part of the system.

Overstaying is taken seriously: gov.uk warns that it may get you banned from entering Schengen countries for up to 3 years. To check your days, use the EU's Check how long you can stay tool, which reads your EES record, or its short-stay calculator. The EES tool doesn't count stays that began before April 10, 2026.

EES: the new border checks

The Entry/Exit System (EES) is the EU's digital record of when non-EU visitors enter and leave the 29 countries above. It started on October 12, 2025, was brought in gradually over six months, and has been fully operational at every external border since April 10, 2026. It applies to UK and US visitors on short stays.

• Your first crossing: a border officer or a self-service kiosk records four fingerprints and a photo of your face, along with your passport details. It's free.
• Children under 12 don't have their fingerprints taken, but may have their photo taken.
• No more stamps. Your passport isn't stamped; your entries and exits are recorded digitally. Cyprus and Ireland, which don't use EES, still stamp passports.
• Later crossings are quicker: you only confirm your fingerprints or photo. Your record lasts 3 years.
• Leaving from the UK by Dover, the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone or Eurostar at St Pancras? The EES checks happen at the border before you leave the UK.
• Allow extra time. gov.uk advises being prepared to wait longer than usual at the border.

Some UK nationals are exempt from EES, including those legally living in an EU country.

ETIAS: coming, but not yet

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will be an online travel authorization that visa-free visitors, including UK and US citizens, must get before traveling to the 29 countries above and Cyprus.

It isn't running yet. The EU's official site says no applications are being collected, and that it will announce the start date several months before launch. The EU had said it expected to start in the last quarter of 2026, but no date has been announced, so you don't need one for trips you're taking now.

When it starts:

• Cost: €20, non-refundable. Under-18s and over-70s won't pay.
• Validity: up to 3 years, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. A new passport needs a new ETIAS.
• Timing: most applications will be decided within minutes, but some can take up to 4 days, or longer if more information is needed, so apply well before you travel.
• Checks before you board: trains and ferries leaving the UK will check you have one.

Beware of scam sites. The EU's site, travel-europe.europa.eu/etias, is the only official place to apply. As gov.uk puts it, any website selling ETIAS at this time is doing so fraudulently.

Visiting the UK: the ETA

The UK has its own travel authorization, the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). Visitors who don't need a visa, including US citizens and EU citizens, need one to travel to the UK, and airlines can refuse to let you board without one.

• Cost: £20.
• Validity: 2 years, or until your passport expires, whichever is sooner, for stays of up to 6 months at a time.
• How to apply: on the official UK ETA app or at gov.uk/eta. Most decisions come within minutes, but allow 3 working days.
• Everyone needs their own, including babies and children.
• Who doesn't need one: British and Irish citizens, including dual citizens.

gov.uk warns to avoid websites that imitate government services and charge extra.

Visiting the US: the ESTA

UK citizens visiting the US for 90 days or less without a visa need an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).

• Cost: $40.62, since October 16, 2026.
• Validity: 2 years from approval, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.
• When to apply: US Customs and Border Protection recommends applying as soon as you book.
• Where: only at the official site, esta.cbp.dhs.gov.
• Your passport must be valid for the whole of your stay.

Before you book

1. Check every passport in your group against the rules for where you're going, both the issue date and the expiry date. Renewing takes time, so do it early.
2. Count your days if you've been in Europe in the last six months.
3. Apply for any ETA or ESTA as soon as you book, on the official site only.
4. Allow extra time at the border for the EES checks.

Neatrip keeps each trip's bookings together, and you can add PDFs and photos to them, so an ETA or ESTA confirmation sits with the flights it's for. Its packing lists start with a travel documents checklist, and it all works offline, for when you need it at the border with no signal.

Or use Neatrip in your browser.

Sources

• gov.uk: entry requirements for France, Spain and Cyprus; EU Entry/Exit System; ETA; ETA enforcement
• European Union: what is the EES, how the EES works, EES questions, ETIAS, short-stay calculator
• US Customs and Border Protection: ESTA

Entry rules depend on your nationality and can change at short notice. This guide covers UK and US passport holders in general; check the official advice for your destination before you travel. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@neatrip.app.