Non-EU nationals who frequently travel to Europe due to different reasons such as family or short business trips, may benefit from derogations from thorough checks upon arrival by acquaring National facilitation programmes. These programmes will facilitate border crossings by making information about a non-EU national’s prior staying in the European countries using the EES, and/or refusals of entry, visible when passing passport control officers before their document is checked.

If you go through the process and are granted access to a National facilitation programme, you will enjoy of the following priviledges from passport control officers in the respective territory you are entering at, and that will not verify the following:

• your point of departure and destination of your trip.
• the purpose of your intended stay and the corresponding supporting documents, if case of being necessary.
• whether you possess sufficient funds of subsistence for the duration and purpose of your intended stay, your return to the country of your origin, or transit to a third country (or whether you are in a position of acquiring such means lawfully).

These derogations are considered privileges – no European country is obligated to grant them in any case. They are also “country-specific”: derogation in one European country is not valid in another European country unless an agreement exists between the two countries involved.

Of course these programmes do not apply if you are a person already enjoying the right of free movement under Union law. This would be the case for the following people:

• EU citizens
• non-EU nationals who are members of the family of a Union citizen exercising his or her right to free movement
• non-EU nationals and their family members who, under agreements between the Union and its Member States and those third countries, enjoy rights of free movement equivalent to those of Union citizens.

To be able to a have access to the National facilitation programmes, travelers need to meet some eligibility criteria such as: meet the entry requirements, justify frequent travel to European countries, valid travel document, proof of financial means, amongst others. The granted programme will have a specific duration for maxium one year, as well as being subject to revokation if you do not meet any longer the eligibility criteria. Also if a European country responsible for examining an application for a national facilitation programme has any doubts about the information you provided, your statements, or your supporting documents, it may consult other European countries before issuing a final decision.

The National facilitation programmes seem to be a very interesting option for those so frequent travelers to Europe. Traveling is getting easier and easier for our benefit.