World News for Students of English

12-08-2026 07:00

The EU has introduced the new Entry/Exit System (EES) for non-EU travelers entering the Schengen area. This digital system replaces manual passport stamps with biometric checks, including facial images and fingerprint scanning.

Travelers first register at self-service kiosks and then meet a border officer for verification. While a regular passport check takes about 60 seconds, this new process takes around 90 seconds. These extra seconds quickly cause severe congestion when thousands of passengers pass through busy airports every day. Long queues stretching hundreds of meters have caused travelers to wait up to five hours, which leads to missed flights. Different hardware and software across EU member states make it more difficult to fix technical problems.

Additionally, travelers cannot complete any steps in advance before arriving. Greece received a temporary exemption to use ordinary passport checks, and airport leaders are calling for full suspensions during peak travel times. Authorities hope to add more self-service kiosks by fall to reduce long airport lines.

Difficult words: biometric (using unique physical characteristics of a person such as face shape or fingerprints to prove who they are), congestion (a situation where a place is crowded and full of traffic or people), exemption (special permission to not follow a rule that other people or places must follow).

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