How will new entry to France measures this October affect ExPats

It has been announced on Sky News this morning that any non-EU passport holder entering France from October, by air, sea, or rail, will have to be photographed and fingerprinted on their first entry. I’m just wondering if our CdS will hold any weight for ExPats in bypassing this expected carnage.

Two old threads that may be of help

I think Brits with a CdS will still be treated the same as any TCN travelling within the EU.

I’m basing my opinion on this…

Specifically:

The Entry/Exit System (EES) will be an automated IT system for registering travellers from third-countries, both short-stay visa holders and visa exempt travellers, each time they cross an EU external border.

Supposedly, the EES is for non-EU residents so in theory having a CdS means you are exempt.

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The most important part of your reply being the first word!

Here’s a handy guide with pictures

Seems that when first passing through the entry system, all ‘third country’ nationals, which includes UK passport holders, will have 4 fingerprints taken electronically. This fingerprint system will replace passport stamping but keep a record of every entry and exit.

The France CdS/TdS provide an internal France right to reside in France. The fingerprints given when the CdS was issued will (eventually) coordinate with the Entry/Exit fingerprint records. Holding a CdS permits exemption from the 90/180 day limit for stay in France but does not provide exemption for stays elsewhere in the EU.

Monitoring movements of residents and visitors within the EU is becoming a security necessity and may also become useful for tax collection :grin:.

A side note of personal experience - As ‘permanent resident’ ID card holder in Hong Kong, we used the ID card + electronic fingerprint at immigration entry gates instead of needing to queue and present our UK passport. Super quick! (Perhaps a caveat would be what happens to your records but that’s another story.)

It’s actually Visa Free or Short Term Visa holders it applies to - rather than all TCNs.

So CDS holders should be exempt …

The chaos at smaller airports should be fun…the moment easyJet and Ryanair land within 30 minutes is bad now…two planes of fingerprints

For what it’s worth, see the list of EES-exempt inc. the second to last item in the left-hand column.

I still expect ignorance, misintepretation and chaos, on the UK side at least.

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What happens if you have no fingers/hands??

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Or just no fingerprints?

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Footprints??

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Nerve-wracking session at the Prefecture, when I went to collect my CdSWA…
tried umpteen times to get suitable finger prints… kept being knocked-back
finally, the very pleasant clerk went “upstairs” to ask advice…
came back looking relieved… and advised me that 'nuff was enough and I could go home… which I did… gratefully clutching my precious card… :+1:

Edit: don’t know whether this hiccup was due to “no” prints… or to my dodgy fingers not being able to press onto the “pad” in a suitable fashion.

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Or if your name is Bond… James Bond…

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Thanks for all of this great news. :roll_eyes: :joy:

We’re planning the big move for later this year so all we need is something making moving a cat more difficult and we’ll have the complete set!

There was a halycon period when retinal images worked brilliantly in main airports.

Well I felt like a burglar who had been caught with the swag bag.

Because very few people ever registered… But yes it was a brief halycon period.

Always worked …now I am refused every time at the automatic scan booths…new passport still won’t work for me

If ever there was something Starmer could do to make us feel closer to the EU then negotiating for reciprocal arrangements to take us out of EES would be a great step - we were supposed to be setting up our own biometric entry/exit system so it is definitely something we could offer reciprocal exception from. I don’t think it would even really break his self-imposed embargo on the “B” word.

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My husband has no fingerprints since chemotherapy, but they are on his CDS. Hope this will be enough.