Home Office Minister Seema Malhotra has announced French border officials will be given an expanded area to check passports at the Port of Dover to avoid the risk of lengthy queues at busy times.
The expanded area will be created ahead of the introduction of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), scheduled for November.
When EES is introduced, passport checks will take longer than they do now because passengers will have to have their fingerprint and photo taken by French border guards.
Under the new plans, passport control will be moved from Dover’s Eastern Docks to a new border control zone at its Western Docks, where there will be 24 kiosks to check coach passengers. Car passengers will be checked by agents using tablets.
The Minister will lay out the new plans before Parliament today, but she warned there could still be queues during peak times when the checks are first introduced.
French border guards will also have to carry out the additional checks on passengers departing from Eurostar’s terminal at London St Pancras station.
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The expanded area will be created ahead of the introduction of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), scheduled for November.
When EES is introduced, passport checks will take longer than they do now because passengers will have to have their fingerprint and photo taken by French border guards.
Under the new plans, passport control will be moved from Dover’s Eastern Docks to a new border control zone at its Western Docks, where there will be 24 kiosks to check coach passengers. Car passengers will be checked by agents using tablets.
The Minister will lay out the new plans before Parliament today, but she warned there could still be queues during peak times when the checks are first introduced.
French border guards will also have to carry out the additional checks on passengers departing from Eurostar’s terminal at London St Pancras station.
The post Government takes steps to avoid chaos when new EU entry rules kick in appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
