3 European countries where Americans can fly without fingerprints

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, chances are you’ve come across the horror stories coming out of Europe lately.

As in the long, winding lines that start at security and go all the way to the outside of the terminal building.

They all have one main culprit: the Old Continent’s new Entry/Exit System, or EES, which requires travelers to register their fingerprints and undergo mandatory biometric scans. on at the top of passport control.

A single EES registration is expected to take between 60 and 90 seconds compared to usual procedures, but once you add up the thousands of travelers arriving every hour you can easily create enormous, unsolvable bottlenecks at the border.

EES applies to most countries in Europe, in particular to all members of the Schengen area.

That’s 27 countries, to be exact, but when you fly directly With these 34 odd ones out you can escape the whole bureaucratic hurdle this summer:

Ireland

You’re probably wondering why Ireland is the first to appear on this list if the country is a member of the European Union and thus subject to EES rules… right?

Then it gets a bit too Eurogeeky for some, but we’ll try to keep it short.

When Ireland signed its accession treaty with the European Union, when the country was still known as the European Community, the country opted out of a number of clauses, mainly because of its unique relations with the larger island nearby. Great Britain, if you’re not geographically savvy.

Ireland maintains an open border with the United Kingdom through Northern Ireland, which is located on the island of Ireland but is nevertheless a British territory. And that’s when the cool, unexpected anomaly comes into play.

Because Britain has never been a member of the Schengen area, Ireland has defaulted on joining to avoid friction at the land border.

We all know how explosive some nationalist Irish get at the first sight of a wall being built (lol).

So today, Ireland remains part of the EUyet outside Schengen, even after Britain left, precisely because of the Northern Ireland issue. In other words: no EES mess when you fly to Ireland!

Of course, this only works if you’re flying nonstop from the US to Ireland, with no stops in mainland Europe, but that won’t be a problem when there are more than twenty hubs in the US offering direct flights to Dublin.

United Kingdom

Speaking of the devil, the UK has never been part of Schengen, even during its EU years, and has always had its own border policy. somewhat different from that of mainland Europe.

For starters, Americans who land in Britain don’t get 90 days (out of a 180-day period) upon arrival, but a whole 180 days on each entry, regardless of time spent in other European countries, which, to be fair, is quite generous.

This means you get six months to explore British countries like England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as special areas like the emerging Channel Islands (which we’ve covered in detail here) and the Isle of Man. without ever having to worry about your clock running out.

EES or not, this has not changed. You can still land in London with your US passport and go straight to the eGates for expedited entry as a US citizen. Anyway, something else has changed this year, which some, much to their dismay, are still unaware of upon arrival at the airport:

The United Kingdom now requires Americans to apply for a mandatory entry permit forward of flying. This is called the British ETA, and at the time of writing it is it costs a salty £16 (about $21.62).

You must submit your biometric information online in advance, wait for your estimated arrival time to be processed, and present your confirmation at the check-in desk. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to board your LDN flight.

On the other hand, you won’t have to wait long or take fingerprints once you land. Needless to say, whether you fly there directly from America, or connect via a non-Schengen area.

We know that ETAs are entirely new, uncharted territory for Americans, and Unfortunately, they are slowly becoming the normwith countries like Thailand, Japan and even the European Union touting the launch of their own online permits in the near future.

If you are flying abroad this summer, please refer to the Entry Requirements page to verify the exact documentation required at your destination.

Serbia

Serbia used to be one of those mysterious, remote European countries that you only vaguely knew by name from a rusty old map hanging in your father’s home office, but since the pandemic years it has exploded in popularity among adventure travelers looking for a sharper, more unfiltered side of Europe.

This is Europe, where the Brussels tentacles have not yet fully extended, where the roads may be full of potholes, but the people are warm and open-hearted, and perceived insecurity gives way to safer, well-controlled streets and a surprisingly relaxed city life.

With its grungy bars housed in repurposed communist-era industrial warehouses and elegant shopping streets like Knez Mihailova that evoke memories of a pristine Europe before 2015, Belgrade is, quite frankly, at the top of the “Lively city trip” department including Berlin and Budapest.

On that note, you can even travel from Belgrade to Budapest by train this summer, or vice versa, combining two of the Old Continent’s safest and most underrated capitals.

By the way, this is how travelers think about the safety situation in Serbia lately on the Traveler Safety Index, where it scores an impressive 83/100.

We’ve been talking about it for years, but for the umpteenth time, nowhere is it safer to be across the pond these days than in the Eastern Empire.

But unlike Hungary, Serbia belongs neither to the EU nor to Schengen Americans do not need to apply for a permit online also to fly. Bringing your navy blue US passport is sufficient, as long as it is valid for 6 months from the scheduled date of return.

Again, the no-fingerprints rule only applies if you land in Serbia directly from America, without any stopovers in other mainland European countries.

Non-stop transatlantic flights are available with AirSerbia from New York (JFK) and Chicago (ORD). Round-trip fares on this route range from $700 to $1,100.

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Vinicius Costa

Vini, our senior head writer at Travel Off Path, has over 60 countries to his name (and is currently weaving stories from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative stories that will have you packing your bags.