The EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) entered its first day of full operation on 11 April, immediately blocking “thousands” of travellers with overstays or mismatched data, according to local news blog Tala News citing KNews analytics. Crucially, Cyprus – alongside Ireland – is not yet part of the EES roll-out, so flights to and from Larnaca and Paphos continue to rely on manual passport stamps. While the headlines of stranded passengers at Schengen hubs caused anxiety among Cypriot residents and corporates, the Interior Ministry confirmed that Cypriot border posts will retain legacy procedures until technical integration is finished, likely in late 2026. That gives employers a temporary buffer but also a narrow window to update compliance playbooks. For cross-border commuters and project staff, the main risk now lies in onward connections. A non-EU assignee flying Larnaca–Athens–Paris will have fingerprints captured in Athens; if the same employee later re-enters via another node with inconsistent data, the automated gates could flag an overstay. Mobility teams must therefore start capturing exact Schengen entry/exit times even though Cyprus itself is outside the system. Immigration lawyers advise converting legacy MEU 2/3 residency slips to biometric cards well before the 3 August 2026 deadline announced by authorities, as non-biometric documents may trigger extra checks once Cyprus eventually joins EES and ETIAS. Action points: audit employee passport validity, schedule residency-card conversions early (Paphos immigration appointments are already quoting 3-4 months), and brief travellers on longer transfer times at Schengen airports.
Source: Tala News / KNews
