The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs published an update on Monday confirming that the Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational at all Schengen external borders since 10 April 2026 and has already logged more than 145 million entries and exits. The article singles out categories of travellers who are not recorded in the biometric database, notably holders of long-stay visas and residence permits – a point of practical importance for thousands of Austrian companies that frequently rotate third-country staff through Vienna Airport or the country’s land borders. Under the system, non-EU short-stay visitors have their fingerprints and facial images captured and are automatically calculated for over-stay risk, replacing the manual passport stamping that often clogged arrival halls. Austrian border police report average processing times fell by 20 seconds per passenger during the June travel peak, but carriers had to install additional self-service kiosks to avoid bottlenecks. The new guidance clarifies that family members of EU or EFTA nationals holding residence cards are also exempt – a relief for many cross-border commuters living in Slovakia or Hungary and working in Lower Austria or Vienna. However, Canadian or Japanese spouses of EU citizens without residence cards will be enrolled in EES, which could complicate last-minute business trips if biometric enrolment lines are long. Travel-managers should update employee briefings to distinguish between short-stay visitors who must provide biometrics and long-stay residents who are waved through after a document check. Companies sponsoring Red-White-Red Card holders should ensure that staff carry their residence permits even on day trips, as failure to present the card would trigger EES enrolment and might create false over-stay flags later.
Source: European Commission – DG HOME
