Australia warns travellers of renewed checks on Italy–Slovenia land border

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) updated its Smartraveller advice for Italy on 28 July 2026, highlighting that “temporary border checks have been introduced at Italy’s borders with Slovenia” and urging travellers to allow extra time when crossing by road or rail. Although the controls were first reinstated in June in response to security concerns along the Western Balkan route, DFAT’s fresh notice signals that the measure will remain in force through the summer peak. Under the current regime, Italian police can request passports or residence cards from all passengers, inspect vehicles and run instant database searches. Coaches arriving from Ljubljana and trains on the Udine–Villach and Trieste–Sežana corridors have already reported delays of 30–60 minutes at Tarvisio Boscoverde and Villa Opicina stations. For corporate mobility teams the practical impact is two-fold. First, employees driving company cars across the border must carry originals (not scans) of registration, insurance and Green Card documents, as officers increasingly refuse photocopies. Second, transport managers should review delivery timetables for just-in-time supply chains that rely on the Gorizia and Fernetti crossings; logistics lobbies estimate that each extra 30 minutes of waiting time costs €50–€70 per truck in fuel and driver hours. The advice also reminds travellers that the Entry/Exit System (EES) is now fully operational: non-EU nationals’ fingerprints and facial images are collected electronically at the first Schengen border they cross, a process that can add several minutes per traveller if they have not been registered before. Airports in Venice and Trieste report little disruption, but land borders remain variable because of limited biometric kiosks. While the measure is unilateral, Slovenia has so far refrained from reciprocal checks, meaning that delays mostly affect those entering Italy. Rome has indicated that controls will be reassessed in mid-September after the end of the holiday season and before the Jubilee Year traffic build-up. Until then, HR departments should insert an extra cushion in duty-of-care alerts and remind assignees to keep passports accessible on company shuttle services.