European vacation destinations will soon require all travelers to provide fingerprint scans and photographs upon arrival as part of a new border screening process.

France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and 25 other countries began rolling out the new Entry/Exit System on October 12, with full enforcement.

Officials say the program will be introduced in phases.

“These European countries will introduce the different elements of the EES in phases, including the collection of biometric data, such as facial image and fingerprints,” the European Union’s (EU) website notes.

“This means that biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) might not be collected at every border crossing point right away, and [travelers’] personal information may not be registered in the system,” the EU added.

Manual passport stamping is being replaced with an automated digital registration system.

“As passport stamping will no longer exist once the EES is operational, carriers must use an online interface to perform these checks instead,” the EU statement further read.

The policy is expected to modernise border management across Europe, strengthening security and helping authorities combat fraud and terrorism.

The system will also track whether visitors overstay in the Schengen Area, a zone of 29 European countries that allows passport-free travel between member states.

Travelers with a biometric passport can use a self-service system, which stores their personal biometric information on an embedded chip.