The European Union will be launching soon two brand new border management systems affecting more specifically the Schengen area. These are EES Exit/Entry System and ETIAS European Travel Information Authorization System, but what are the differences between them? All these acronyms are very confusing so, the question arises: are they the same? We are bringing some light on the subject.

After the decision taken by the European Union regarding the Schengen space and its security reinforcement, these two systems EES and ETIAS have very much to do with prevention and protection, so each of them makes a specific job to achieve this goal:

EES: will keep registration of all visa-free and visa-required travelers entering Europe for a short period of time.  29 European countries in total will use the system, 27 are Schengen plus Bulgaria and Romania. Travelers do not need to do anything since this will be an action taken at the crossing border.

ETIAS: this is a mandatory form to be submitted by every visa-free country national entering the Schengen space as well as Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania. The application must be approved before boarding the plane with destination 30 countries included in the ETIAS agreement. ETIAS is not a visa, so the status of non-visa will stay the same to the applicants, and any visa-required country national will keep needing to apply for a visa.

One important difference is that no biometric data will be collected when applying for ETIAS, whereas with EES facial image and fingerprints will be taken at the moment of entry, as well as travel document info, and date and place entering and exiting any of the European countries using the system.

Obviously the ETIAS will need to be submitted ahead in time of our trip, and EES will be registered the same day of travel. This is why it is very important that the EES is up and running before ETIAS is required, and thus will be announced later on this year. Once EES is implemented, ETIAS requirement will follow in a few months, since they need each other to complete the security process in the Schengen space.