France suspends Dover’s EES biometric checks amid long queues

French authorities temporarily relaxed some new EU border procedures at Dover on Saturday evening after long queues left travellers waiting for hours at the start of the UK bank holiday getaway.

By Sunday morning, traffic at the port was described as “free flowing”, with waiting times reduced to around 35 minutes for tourist traffic, states the Port of Dover.

The disruption marked the first major holiday test of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), introduced last month for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area, including Britons travelling to France after Brexit.

The system replaces passport stamps with digital records and requires biometric registration including fingerprints and photographs.

The Port of Dover said French border police - who perform French border controls on the UK side at Dover and St Pancras - agreed to invoke an “article 9” clause within the EES rules allowing some checks to be temporarily eased in exceptional circumstances.

“While conventional border checks will still be undertaken, this will now enable Police Aux Frontières to significantly reduce the border processing time,” the port said.

Why Dover faced delays

Queues stretching for several hours built up on Friday and Saturday, with around 18,000 expected between Friday and Sunday - and more than 8,000 on Saturday alone.

The Port of Dover had warned this weekend would be the first peak travel period since the EES rollout.

However, the EES is not yet fully automated for cars at Dover, with some French technology still awaiting installation at the port.

Instead, French border officers have been manually creating traveller records for motorists, slowing processing times during busy periods.

Full biometric registration via kiosks has so far mainly been used for coach passengers.

Official EES rules allow biometric checks to be temporarily suspended for up to six hours if congestion becomes severe enough to disrupt traffic flow.

The delays renewed concerns about the impact of the new EU border system on cross-Channel travel from Britain.

Low-cost airline easyJet has also criticised the new arrangements, warning they could discourage some tourists from travelling to Europe because of longer waits at airports and ports.

Kent councillors have meanwhile backed calls for some border processing to be moved away from Dover itself to reduce congestion during peak holiday periods.

One proposal under discussion would see the inland border facility at Sevington, near Ashford, used to process or hold some Europe-bound traffic before vehicles reach the port. Local officials said repeated disruption risks harming tourism and local businesses across Kent.

Key points for France residents to know

For Britons living in France with residency cards, the EES does not formally change rules on which passport lanes they should use.

However, the added processing time for non-EU travellers has increased pressure on non-EU queues, where checks are often slower than for EU passport holders.

Rules on the use of e-gates for British travellers also continue to vary depending on the airport, port or rail terminal.

The Port of Dover advised travellers on Sunday to arrive no more than two hours before departure, prepare food and water in case of delays, and ensure passports and booking documents are ready before reaching border control.

Passengers missing sailings because of delays are being transferred to the next available ferry free of charge.