Ireland and Cyprus buck the trend as passport stamping continues amid EES implementation

Source: Schengen Visa Info

Ireland and Cyprus will continue stamping travelers' passports despite the planned implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) in the European Union by the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

The EU website clarifies that passports in Cyprus and Ireland are still manually stamped because both countries are not part of the Schengen Zone. Cyprus faces challenges in starting accession procedures due to border issues with the other half of the Cypriot island, while Ireland declined to join Schengen in 1985.

The EES is an automated IT system in the EU designed to track travelers entering and leaving the Schengen Area, replacing manual passport stamping with digital records, as reported by SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Initially expected to be effective in May this year and later postponed to November, the exact date of the EES becoming operational remains unknown, according to the EU-LISA agency responsible for its operation.

Although Ireland and Cyprus remain unaffected, the EES will apply to Romania and Bulgaria, as both countries are still in the process of joining the Schengen Area.

While Bulgaria and Romania do not issue Schengen visas, they will utilize the EES, and specific rules apply when planning to travel to these countries, as stated on the EES website.

For travelers visiting Bulgaria and Romania without a Schengen visa, their stay duration will be included in the overall permitted 90 days within any 180-day period in the Schengen Zone.

This rule primarily affects travelers from other continents who previously used Romania and Bulgaria, and even Croatia before January 1 this year, to reset their total limited period of stay in the Schengen countries.

For those requiring a Schengen visa with a specific number of days allotted for their stay, the time spent in Bulgaria or Romania will not be counted in those days. However, it will be considered when checking compliance with the overall 90-day limit within any 180-day period in the Schengen Zone.