EES and ETIAS Update for British Citizens Living in Austria

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There have been several articles in the UK press warning about the forthcoming EES and ETIASEuropean Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) The European Commission's proposed European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is intended to strengthen security checks on those persons who travel visa-free to the EU, currently nationals from over 60 countries. The largely automated IT system will identify any security or irregular migratory risks posed by visa-exempt visitors travelling to the Schengen area, whilst at the same time facilitating crossing borders for the vast majority of travellers who do not pose such risks. Non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to travel to the Schengen area will have to apply for a travel authorisation through the ETIAS system prior to their trip. As of September 2025, it is planned to go live during the last quarter of 2026.

The EES became operational on 12th October 2025 with a progressive start (see below) which will last until 9th April 2026. ETIAS is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026.

EES introduces biometric checks at the Schengen border (Excludes Ireland and Cyprus). Its purpose is to replace manual stamping of passports and better control the number of days that non-EU/EEAEEA The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of the 27 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The United Kingdom is not part of the EEA. citizens (and non-residents) spend in the Schengen zone.

ETIAS is NOT a Visa, it’s an electronic travel authorisation for those who are visa-exempt when travelling to Schengen. ETIAS is similar to the US ESTA, Australian ETA or the UK ETA. Official cost is quoted as 20 EUR and is valid for 3 years or until your passport expires (whichever is sooner).

Exemptions

There are several exemptions to both these systems which are not widely covered in the UK press.

BOTH Withdrawal AgreementWithdrawal Agreement The Withdrawal Agreement sets out the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and provides for a deal on citizens’ rights. It sets out a transition period which lasts until 31 December 2020. During this time you can continue to live, work and study in the EU broadly as you did before 31 January 2020.   If you are resident in Austria at the end of the transition period, you will be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, and your rights will be protected for as long as you remain resident in Austria.   Any rights that are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement will be the subject of future negotiations.   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-withdrawal-agreement-and-political-declaration   beneficiaries (Article 50 holders) and other Third Country Nationals (including British Nationals) with valid residence permits are exempt from both these systems. There is official confirmation in several places regarding Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries including here for ETIAS and more recently something was published on 26th July 2024 regarding EES here.

The EES website has further details about to whom it does not apply here: Austrian and other EU/EEA nationals are also exempt from these systems.

The British Consulate in Vienna have updated their Living in Austria Guide on this topic.

Caution

We currently have minimal details on how these systems will work in practice at the borders. The one thing that is clear, is if you fail to travel with both your passport AND biometric residence permit (eg. Article 50 card) you will encounter more issues and are likely to be required to register in EES (you want to avoid this).

In addition travelling with an expired Article 50 card may well cause you issues. Non permanent (5 year Article 50) residence permits start to expire in 2026.

We are also currently advising people to voluntarily (it is not compulsory) update their MeldezettelMeldezettel Austria requires everyone living in Austria (both Austrians and foreigners) to register their place(s) of residence with the local authorities. The confirmation of this registration is called a Meldebestätigung (EN: confirmation of registration), although it is still affectionately known to many by its former name (the Meldezettel). This is done at your Meldeamt in the Gemeinde or Bezirk you live in. You are required to do your registration within three days of arrival. It is important to do this also because your qualification for permanent residence starts to run from the point of your registration. information with their current UK Passport details. This is because the ZMR contains a list of all Austrian residents and may be useful as a fallback!

It is also worth noting that spot checks can be carried out at the borders and temporary border control can be re-introduced at short notice within Schengen.

Passenger Flows

Passenger flows at the Schengen External Borders are managed by individual Member States! It is likely that you will see new registration kiosks for those that are required to register with EES.

In some cases, (e.g. at ports/terminals in the UK) passengers may be required to interact with these EES terminals (but not register) with options for Visa holders, EU Nationals, Residents and “others”. In other cases you may bypass these completely!

When EES initially launches it is possible that you will encounter delays at the border, especially at the ports and railway stations (e.g. Dover, Eurotunnel, Eurostar).

Biometric Residence Permit

As EES and ETIAS are launched it will become increasingly important that you ALWAYS travel with your biometric residence permit (e.g. Article 50 card). Failure to do so may cause issues, this is especially so as it is not only border officials that will be checking details, carriers (Air carriers, sea carriers and international carriers transporting groups overland by coach) also have obligations.

Progressive Start

EES will not be launched as a “big bang”, but will be introduced progressively. The EU Commission description of this is as follows:

“The Entry/Exit System (EES) will begin its operations gradually. During this time, different parts of the system, such as collecting biometric data (facial image and fingerprints), will be implemented by the European countries using EES step by step. This means that travellers’ biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) might not be collected, and their personal information may not be registered in the system. Passports will continue to be stamped as usual…”

In terms of the Austrian EES rollout the information we have is that Vienna starts – (October 12), Salzburg (12 November), Innsbruck (19 November), Graz (26 November), Linz and Klagenfurt on (3 December) – Source: Der Standard.

In terms of Dover and Eurotunnel, it is likely to start with Freight and Coach Traffic first (Source. Reuters), with cars starting Novemeber 1st.

Eurostar will first require business-class passengers and frequent travellers to register from October; all standard passengers will start to register from January 12, 2026.

Transition PeriodTransition Period The transition period (also referred to as the implementation period) is the period following the UK's departure from the European Union (on 31.01.2020) until the end of 2020. An option to extend this period has not been taken up by the UK government.

EES has a transition period of 180 days, which starts from the date EES enters into operation. This is referenced in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226. During the transition period, border authorities will be using a combination of physical passport stamps and the information in EES.

ETIAS has a transition period and a grace period, which is 6 months from launch; full details can be found in Article 83 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240. A good summary is provided in section 11 of the Frontex FAQ for Carriers.

Web Service

Article 13 of the EES regulations states that a Web Service will be provided for Third Country Nationals to check their remaining stay which includes providing an OK/NOT OK answer, as well as the information on the remaining authorised stay. This will not be operational until after EES fully launches (April 2026).

Warning

When looking for information on these two systems, please try and use official EU websites (domain name “europa.eu”). When ETIAS launches it is highly likely that some unauthorised processing websites will appear to charge extra for what you can easily do yourself! They may also use your personal data for other means. Please advise friends and family to be careful and only use official websites and report abuse.

EES Data Removal

If you are forced to register on EES (e.g. via a kiosk) and are a legal resident in a Schengen Member State; you are recommended to ask for this data to be removed to avoid future issues:

  1. Write to the Data Controller of the country responsible for the erroneous EES registration, attaching a copy of your passport and residence permit.
  2. Please include relevant details such as your name, date of birth, country of residence, date and location of EES registration. The communication should be signed and some countries have specific forms for this (e.g. Switzerland).
  3. Ask for a removal under Article 52 of the EES Regulations (Regulation (EU) 2017/2226) as the EES does not apply to residence permit holders. You can also reference Article 17 of the GDPR Regulations.
  4. Give them 45 days to confirm removal.
  5. If the response is delayed or not satisfactory then complain to the Supervisory Authority of the country responsible.

Contact details of the EES Data protection authorities can be found on the EU Commission EES Travel site – https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/contact-details-for-data-protection-matters

According to Article 52(1) of the EES regulations, you can apply via ANY Member State, but you are probably advised to complain to the Member State that forced the erroneous registration OR alternatively your Host Member State.

You can find the Austrian specific Data Protection rules from the BMIBundesministerium für Inneres The Bundesministerium für Inneres (BMI) / Ministry for the Interior (UK counterparty: the Home Office) is competent for public security, policing, border control as well as residency and citizenships. It is also responsible for elections and direct democracy instruments as well as the civil service in the respective provinces, as well as municipal level where they are not covered by the Federal Chancellery. and the BMI Information on EES in the Useful Links section below. The BMI and EU Commission rules clearly state residents are exempt from EES.

Useful Links

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