EU EES fingerprint scanning creates barriers for older British travellers at European borders

British travellers aged 65 and older are facing significant delays at European borders because the EU's Entry/Exit System cannot read their faded fingerprints, forcing them into manual processing queues that can last several hours. Research by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre has confirmed that fingerprint image quality declines with age, affecting biometric scanning accuracy across the continent.

The Fingerprint Challenge

The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) requires non-EU nationals, including British citizens without residency cards, to provide facial images and fingerprints at border kiosks for automated processing. However, passengers with aged or worn fingerprints are experiencing repeated rejections, leaving them unable to complete self-service checks and forcing them to join manual processing queues with staff members.

An 80-year-old traveller reported attempting to scan her fingerprints multiple times across different machines with staff assistance, but the system could not register her prints. She attributed the issue to her age, suggesting her fingers had become "worn smooth" and lacked sufficient ridge detail for scanners to capture. This scenario is not isolated—older passengers across European airports and ports report similar experiences.

Scientific Evidence and Regulatory Framework

A 2019 study by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre analysed over 400,000 fingerprint samples from individuals aged between 0 and 98. The research found a gradual decline in fingerprint image quality beginning around age 65, with older fingerprints presenting lower quality for biometric matching. This means scanners encounter greater difficulty obtaining usable images from older passengers. Fingerprint degradation can also result from repeated manual labour, dry skin conditions, and certain medical treatments including chemotherapy.

Under EU regulations, individuals physically unable to provide fingerprints should be exempt from the requirement. Article 17(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 explicitly states that persons for whom fingerprinting is physically impossible shall be exempted, with provisions for recording temporary inability and requesting fingerprints at a later date.

Border Processing Impact

Despite earlier warnings of five-hour queues at European borders, actual wait times have remained manageable, partly because EU member states have used temporary flexibility provisions to pause EES checks during peak periods. Dover, which initially forecast queues of up to four and a half hours during peak weekends, reported maximum wait times of only 55 minutes with average waits under 20 minutes. However, these contingency measures are set to end early next month and will not be extended, according to the EU border security agency Frontex.