Aleksandar Seničić, Director of the National Association of Travel Agencies of Serbia (YUTA), stated that full implementation – i.e. the 24-hour operation – of the Entry/Exit System (EES) will begin on 10 April.
This means that travellers will have to register in the system each time they cross the border, due to the EU’s 90/180-day stay rule. He added that greater patience and better travel planning will be necessary in the coming period.
Seničić told Tanjug that some EU countries have expressed concern about potential congestion, and that the European Commission has approved a measure allowing each country to decide independently whether to temporarily suspend the system.
The 90/180-day rule means that citizens of non-EU countries, including Serbia, may stay in the Schengen Area visa-free for a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period.
Explaining what full implementation of the EES entails and whether there will be major changes, Seničić said that it is not significantly different from what has already been seen at borders during the system’s partial rollout.
He pointed out that full implementation means travellers will have to register every time they cross the border, both when leaving and when returning, which was not previously mandatory. Seničić also noted that until now the system had only been in place at larger border crossings, whereas from 10 April it will apply at all crossings.
“Wherever we cross the border – whether by plane, car, bus or train – we will have to be registered. What is important is for people to be patient, to understand that the procedure takes some time and that it will certainly cause waiting at border crossings,” he added.
He recommended that travellers using their own cars choose smaller border crossings instead of the main ones and check live camera feeds of border crossings before setting off in order to assess the situation.
He also noted that some EU member states have expressed concern about potential congestion due to the full implementation of the EES. “Following numerous complaints from the tourism industry and expectations of major congestion in EU countries that largely depend on tourism, the European Commission decided that from 10 April – despite full implementation – each country, or rather its border authorities, may decide to suspend the EES temporarily during peak congestion periods,” Seničić explained.
According to him, such suspensions may last several hours or even a full day, during which time travellers would cross the border using the usual procedure, simply presenting their passport.
He added that this is how the system identifies travellers and emphasised that it is important for enforcing the EU’s 90/180-day stay rule. Seničić also highlighted a new feature – the mobile application “Travel to Europe”, currently active only in Sweden and Portugal – and noted that there is an initiative for other Schengen countries to make it available in their countries by the summer.
“With this app, you can download it in advance, enter your passport details, take a photo, and answer standard questions – such as where you are travelling and how long the trip will last – and then submit the information. Within 24 hours, you receive confirmation of registration. When entering, for now only in Sweden and Portugal, you only need to provide fingerprints of four fingers at the border crossing, and the procedure is much faster,” he said.
The EES system became operational on 12 October 2025, with a gradual rollout across 29 European countries. It is an automated information system that records every entry and exit of non-EU nationals. Its purpose is to improve tracking of travellers and monitoring of their stay within the permitted 90 days.
The system will replace passport stamping with digitally recorded entries, exits, or refusals of entry for non-EU nationals travelling for short stays. It will also record facial images, fingerprints, and personal data from travel documents, the European Commission previously stated.
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is often mentioned alongside the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), but they are two separate systems with different purposes, applied at different stages of travel.
(Telegraf, 06.04.2026)