As of last Friday, April 10, the Electronic Entry/Exit System (EES) for third-country nationals is fully operational throughout the Schengen area. In Slovenia, the system has been phased in at five international border crossings since March 10, according to police reports.
The EES is now established at Slovenia’s main entry points, including the airports of Brnik (Ljubljana), Maribor Slivnica and Portorož, as well as the sea border crossings of Koper and Piran.
Under the new border control framework, the physical stamping of passports of third-country nationals entering the Schengen area for short stays will be phased out. It will be replaced by a mandatory digital entry into the EES, which will electronically record entries and exits, refusals of entry, passport data, facial images and fingerprints.
It is important to note that the EES is specifically designed for short-term travelers. Excluded from the system are those who hold a valid residence permit in Slovenia or other Schengen member states, as their status is already governed by existing residence records.
The system covers all EU member states (except Cyprus and Ireland) as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Following a phased rollout that began on October 12, countries have gone through a six-month transition period during which biometric data was collected alongside the traditional passport stamp.
Industry Concerns and Security Benefits
The implementation has come under scrutiny from the aviation industry. Organizations such as ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe and IATA warned in February of potential disruptions at airports during the peak summer months. In addition, Western Balkan airlines have recently called for simplified procedures to ease border crossings.
However, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs highlighted significant early successes at the end of March:
Volume: Over 45 million border crossings have been recorded.
Refusals: Entry was denied to more than 24,000 individuals for various reasons.
Security: The system helped identify over 600 individuals posing security risks, preventing them from entering Europe.
The EES ensures that if an individual is refused entry at one border, the data is immediately visible to authorities across the entire Schengen Area, preventing “border shopping” for entry.
Results in Slovenia
During the transitional period, the Slovenian police registered more than 80,000 entries into the EES. Entry was denied to 25 persons at the Slovenian Schengen borders, mainly due to incomplete documentation justifying their stay. The authorities reported that the system worked without major technical problems.
By using biometric identifiers, the system significantly improves the ability to detect identity fraud. The DG cited a case in Romania where biometrics detected a traveler using two different identities with separate documents, revealing that the individual had previously been denied entry three times by different countries.
For more background on this issue, see our previous coverage from October 2025 here.
About SIBIZ
SIBIZ Business services Ltd. is a team of professional business consultants who share decades of experience collaborating with both international corporations and individual investors and businessmen looking to operate in the Slovenian and EU markets. The company brings together a group of experts specialized in corporate business, consulting, and business migration services to foreign companies and individual investors entering the market. SIBIZ provides a full range of services, including assistance with visa and residence permits, company incorporation, and legal and accounting services, primarily in Slovenia and across the Western Balkans.
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