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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: Can foreign arrivals use the e-gates at German airports?

If you live in Germany on a non-EU passport, you may well be sick of waiting in endless queues at border control whenever you re-enter the country. Luckily, the automated e-gates could be a solution for some. Here's who can use them.

Published: 26 October 2023 14:52 CEST
Updated: 3 January 2024 10:50 CET
EasyPASS
An EasyPASS reader. Photo: picture alliance / Matthias Balk/dpa | Matthias Balk

Those of us who come from non-EU countries – including Brits after Brexit – will be very familiar with the sinking feeling you get when you see the queue at passport control snaking around the corridor and down the hall.

After a long journey, all you want to do is get back home as quickly as possible, but as you stand in line with all the internationals at the “All Passports” section, the idea of making the next train into the city may seem like a distant dream.

As you stare enviously at the Germans whizzing through the automated passport gates, you may wonder if that’s an option for you -´but is it worth risking your place in the queue to try it out? It may well be – providing you fulfil certain criteria.

Who can use the EASYPass e-gates?

As you may assume, anyone with a valid EU passport is able to use the e-gates – provided they are over the age of 12. That means that, alongside Germans, travellers from any of the EU’s 27 member states can take advantage of the automated EasyPass system, regardless of whether they live in Germany.

This doesn’t just apply to full members of the EU, however: it also includes countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), who also have free movement rights in Europe. That applies to citizens of Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. 

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to prove you’re a resident in Germany

In addition, people from Switzerland can get an expedited trip through passport control via the e-gates.

According to the website of the Federal Police, the following non-EU and non-EEA residents can also use the EasyPass gates:

  • People with a German residence permit or long-term visa who also have a valid electronic passport (over the age of 12)
  • People aged 18 and over from with a passport from the USA, Taiwan, South Korea or Hong Kong who are registered for the EasyPass RTP system

What kind of residence permits are accepted?

In general, any electronic residence permit with the e-ID symbol (pictured below) should be valid for the airport e-gates.

Electronic residence permit

Symbols denoting a valid electronic residence permit. Source: Bundespolizei

This includes:

  • Ordinary residence permits (Aufenthaltserlaubnis)  
  • Permanent residence permits (Daueraufenthaltskarte and Erlaubnis zum Daueraufenthalt EU, Niederlassungserlaubnis) 
  • Permits for spouses of EU citizens (Aufenthaltskarte für Familienangehörige von Unionsbürgern) 
  • EU Blue Cards
  • ICT cards 
  • Post-Brexit residence permits (Aufenthaltstitel-GB) 

How does it all work?

When you arrive at border control, you should see a set of electronic passport gates next to the ordinary passport control booths. Simply take your passport out and place the photo page face-down on the scanners. 

Be sure to look at the camera so that your image can be recorded and compared with the biometric photo on the system.

E-gates EasyPass Frankfurt Airport

A woman scans her passport at the e-gates at Frankfurt airport. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Boris Roessler

If everything works as it should, there should be no need to present your residence permit. After confirming your identity, the gates should open and allow you to stroll on through. 

What if it doesn’t let me through?

If the e-gates don’t work for you, there could be a few different reasons for that. Firstly, the facial recognition won’t work if you’re covering your face or head in anyway, so hair coverings, headscarves, sunglasses and face masks should be taken off beforehand.

Assuming you’ve done this – and you’re over the age of 12 – you should check that your electronic passport and residence permit are both still valid for travel. Remember: only your passport needs to be scanned at the e-gates, so don’t try and use the residence permit itself!

Visas are also only valid for exiting the country rather than re-entering, so visa-holders will be unable to use the EasyPass gates on arrival in Germany. Residence permit holders, on the other hand, should be able to use the gates in both directions.

If you’ve checked all the above and it still doesn’t work, you may want to be in touch with your local immigration office to ensure that your personal data, your current electronic passport and your current residence title or visa have all been entered correctly in the Central Register of Foreigners. 

Another potential issue is that the chip in your electronic passport may not be readable in Germany or you may not have a biometric photo stored on the system. 

READ ALSO: What is Germany’s electronic ID card and how do you use it?

Is there anything I should do beforehand?

Anyone travelling on a US, Hong Kong, Taiwanese or South Korean passport who wants to use EasyPass RTP system should be sure to register in person at one of the police service points at German airports beforehand. 

For holders of electronic residence permits, it may also be worth activating the e-ID function at your local immigration office and ensuring all the information on the system is fully up to date before you travel.

The Local has written to the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport for clarification on whether the electronic function needs to be activated before travel. We’ll update you as soon as we hear back. 

Member comments

  1. Anyone travelling on a US, Hong Kong, Taiwanese or South Korean passport who wants to use EasyPass RTP system should be sure to register online beforehand.

    It has to be done in person at an office for all of these nationalities except South Koreans.

  2. Thanks! As a UK Passport holder resident in DE, I am blocked by British Airways from leaving the UK unless I show my Aufenthaltstitel. BA wrongly believe a German Residency Card is a “Travel Document” that MUST be shown under the Terms of Carriage. Worst case, my UK passport gets stamped. By denying me Airside access w/o Check-in, I lose my Rights as a UK Passport Holder. This proves my case i.e no need to show my Aufenthaltstitel at Border Control, because I can now use e-Passport Gates.

  3. Great to hear this and many thanks for sharing.

    Often wondered why EU passport holders could freely use the egates when entering UK and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t reciprocated especially for UK passport holders with German residency (Aufenthaltstitel-GB) when returning to Germany.

  4. EasyPASS-RTP participants in particular must proceed to the control desk after eGate and obtain a stamp on their passport.
    From easypass.de:
    “Then proceed to the border control desk directly behind the eGates. You will be briefly questioned again there and receive your entry or exit stamp. After that, the border control process is complete.”
    Some border guards may not be fully aware of the RTP-specific stamping requirement. One had to proactively seek a stamp to avoid any misunderstanding later.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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