EES is live, ETIAS is not: where to read the detail

Updated 20 August 2026.

Two things changed at the Alpine airport borders this year, and they are constantly confused with one another.

EES — the Entry/Exit System — is live. It has been fully operational at every Schengen external border, Geneva included, since 10 April 2026. Non-EU passports are now registered biometrically on entry and on exit instead of being stamped. Geneva queued for up to three hours on the peak ski Saturday of February 2026.

ETIAS is not live. The EU has removed its late-2026 target date, applications are not open anywhere, and any website charging you for one today is selling you nothing.

We have moved the full detail — what happens at the kiosk, how long it really takes, who is exempt, what it means for a transfer booking, and what happens on the way home — into a single guide that we keep updated:

EES & ETIAS at Geneva Airport: what skiers need to know for winter 2026/27 →

Correction: an earlier version of this post said that leaving Geneva Airport through the French sector meant crossing an external Schengen border. That was wrong. France and Switzerland are both in the Schengen area, so there is no routine passport check between them, and your EES registration at the airport covers the onward drive to your resort.