France’s New Border Guidelines for 2027: What People Should Know

By Maxime Roseau, co-founder of EasyFranceNow

If you’re flying to France on trip this 12 months or subsequent, the papers you want are the identical as earlier than: a sound US passport, and no visa for a keep of as much as 90 days. What has modified is the border. Since April 10, 2026, the officer not stamps your passport. A European system referred to as the EES information your fingerprints and a photograph of your face, and retains the rely of your days. A second system, ETIAS, has been introduced for years and remains to be not operating. Right here is how France border guidelines work for People now.

I’m French, and at EasyFranceNow I work on visa and residency purposes for People who come to France. A easy journey now comes down to those three issues, so right here they’re within the order you’ll meet them, with the official web page behind every rule.

The brief reply

• You want a US passport that’s legitimate at the least three months after the day you intend to depart the Schengen space and was issued throughout the final 10 years. You don’t want a visa for a visit of as much as 90 days for tourism or enterprise.
• The EES registers your fingerprints and face the primary time you enter. It’s free, and there may be nothing to do earlier than you fly.
• ETIAS isn’t in operation. Nobody can promote you a sound one at this time.
• You might spend 90 days in any 180-day interval within the 29 Schengen nations taken collectively, France included. The day you land and the day you permit each rely.

Each rule under hyperlinks to the official web page it comes from. I learn every of them on the time of writing, and border guidelines change, so open them once more earlier than you journey.

How the EES modified France border guidelines

The Entry/Exit System, or EES, is the European Union’s new border register. The European Fee describes it as an automatic system that registers non-EU vacationers on a brief keep every time they cross the exterior borders of 29 European nations. It information your identify, your passport particulars, your fingerprints and facial picture, and the date and place of every entry and exit. It additionally information refusals of entry. The system began in levels on October 12, 2025, turned totally operational on April 10, 2026, when the passport stamp ended.

For visa-free vacationers like People, the official EES web site says the system shops 4 fingerprints and a facial picture. Youngsters beneath 12 will not be fingerprinted for now, solely photographed. There may be nothing to pay, and France’s international ministry says there may be nothing to do earlier than you journey.

You can’t choose out. The EES web site is blunt about it: refuse your fingerprints or your picture, and you’re refused entry.

What occurs if you land

The primary time you cross into the Schengen space for the reason that EES began, a border officer takes your picture and fingerprints and opens a digital file in your identify. Your passport isn’t stamped. Some airports have self-service kiosks the place you may register a part of this your self earlier than you attain the officer. Service-public.fr, the French authorities’s data web site, says utilizing them in France is non-compulsory and free. The official EES web site provides that the kiosks solely work with a biometric passport, the sort with a chip, and that on this primary crossing you meet an officer both manner.

On later journeys the file already exists, so officers solely verify your face and fingerprints towards it, which takes much less time. With a biometric passport and a kiosk at that border, the official EES web site says you’ll normally not must see an officer in any respect if nothing in your file stands in the best way. Your exit is recorded too if you fly dwelling.

Connecting flights and the prepare from London

Two particulars journey People up. One is the place the verify takes place. The EES runs on the exterior border of the Schengen space, so for those who join by means of Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Rome on the best way to Paris, that airport is the place you’re registered. The second is the prepare from London. In line with the UK authorities says Eurostar passengers at St Pancras Worldwide undergo the EES checks earlier than they depart the UK, and that non-EU vacationers could also be requested to make use of pre-registration kiosks within the station earlier than the ticket gates. It additionally warns that the checks can take longer than earlier than at busy occasions.

There may be an official Journey to Europe app for registering as much as 72 hours forward. Once I checked it, it solely labored for Sweden, plus Portugal for the questionnaire alone. France was not included.

Your knowledge stays after you fly dwelling. The EES web site says every entry and exit report is saved for 3 years, and your private file for 3 years and in the future after your final exit. If no exit is ever recorded, the information is saved for 5 years from the top of your licensed keep. EasyFranceNow’s information to the EES for People goes additional into who’s exempt and the way the system differs from ETIAS.

ETIAS in 2026: introduced however not operating

ETIAS is the half most vacationers have examine, and the half you may put aside for now. On the time of writing, the official ETIAS web site mentioned the system was not in operation and was accumulating no purposes, and that the EU would announce the beginning date a number of months earlier than launch. No date was given. France’s international ministry web page, final up to date in April 2026, nonetheless says ETIAS is anticipated within the final quarter of 2026. That date is now outdated, however you’ll nonetheless see it quoted. Even as soon as ETIAS opens, the foundations give vacationers an extended transition interval, defined under.

That additionally means any web site promoting you an ETIAS at this time is promoting nothing. The French international ministry says no web site presently points ETIAS authorizations, and provides: beware fraudulent web sites. When it opens, the ETIAS FAQ says you’ll apply on the official web site or the official app. Different websites could file for you, however the EU says they acquire your knowledge and should cost their very own payment on high of the official one.

How ETIAS will work as soon as it begins

ETIAS is a journey authorization, not a visa. The French international ministry compares it to the ESTA used for visits to the USA. US residents will want one. ETIAS will apply to journey to 30 nations: the 29 Schengen nations plus Cyprus. Here’s what the official FAQ says about it:

• The payment is €20, waived for candidates beneath 18 or over 70, and it’s not refunded if you’re turned down.
• It’s legitimate for 3 years, or till your passport expires if that comes first, for as many journeys as you want.
• Most candidates get a solution inside minutes. Some wait as much as 96 hours, and a request for extra paperwork or an interview can add as much as 30 days. The EU advises getting it before you purchase tickets or e book inns.
• Every traveler wants their very own, tied to at least one passport. A brand new passport means a brand new ETIAS, and there aren’t any household or group purposes.
• The passport quantity needs to be actual. Typing a zero for the letter O is sufficient to be refused boarding.

When ETIAS turns into necessary

The beginning will likely be gradual. Below Article 83 of the ETIAS regulation, utilizing ETIAS is non-compulsory for the primary six months after the system opens, a interval the European Fee can prolong. A six-month grace interval follows: the authorization turns into necessary, however vacationers with out one can nonetheless be allowed in as soon as, on their first entry in the course of the grace interval, in the event that they meet each different entry situation.

If you’re a twin citizen of the US and France, or of one other EU nation, most of this doesn’t concern you, so long as you journey in your European passport. The ETIAS web site says you have to use it for these journeys, and the EES doesn’t register EU residents.

ETIAS won’t change how lengthy you may keep, and it doesn’t permit you to work. It comes with the identical 90 days in any 180 as at this time. EasyFranceNow’s ETIAS information for People tracks the place the launch stands.

The 90/180-day rule that limits your journey

Of all of the France border guidelines, this one issues most, and it has not modified. The European Fee’s web page units it out: within the Schengen space it’s possible you’ll normally keep a most of 90 days inside any 180-day interval, and also you rely again 180 days from every day of your keep to verify the whole. The realm has 29 nations: 25 EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Eire and Cyprus will not be a part of it, and neither is the UK.

A couple of particulars determine most counts:

• The day you arrive and the day you permit each rely as full days. Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code says so. A visit from a Saturday to the Sunday of the next week makes use of 9 days.
• The 90 days are one allowance for all 29 Schengen nations. Per week in Italy or Spain after France comes out of the identical 90.
• Leaving doesn’t reset something. A weekend in London makes use of no days, however the days you spent in France earlier than it hold counting till they fall out of the 180-day window.
• Days spent in France on a long-stay visa or a residence allow are unnoticed of the rely.

A labored instance with actual dates

Say you spend 60 days within the Schengen space subsequent spring, from March 1 to April 29, 2027, and need to come again later that 12 months.

• When you land on June 1, 2027, all 60 days are nonetheless contained in the 180-day window, so 30 are left. Your final day could be June 30.
• When you land on July 28, 2027, you continue to have 30 days, and your final day could be August 26.
• When you land in the future later, on July 29, 2027, you may keep a full 90 days, till October 26. You attain 90 counted days on August 27. From August 28 the March days begin leaving the window, one a day, as quick as you add new ones, and on October 26 the spring journey has left it solely whereas your new journey reaches 90 days by itself.

In all three instances you’ve used 60 days, however how lengthy you may keep relies upon solely on the date you arrive. At all times verify a particular arrival date.

The place to verify your individual rely

• The EU’s official device, Test how lengthy you may keep. You enter your passport quantity, the nation and your dates, and it tells you whether or not your entry is OK and what number of days you’ve got left. It doesn’t rely any keep that started earlier than April 10, 2026, even one which ran previous that date. These days nonetheless rely towards your 90, so add them your self.
• The European Fee’s short-stay calculator, with a verify mode for previous stays and a planning mode for a future arrival. France-Visas notes that the calculator’s outcomes will not be legally binding.
• EasyFranceNow’s free Schengen 90/180 calculator, which provides the times used, the times left and the final day it’s possible you’ll keep for the arrival date you enter.
• The border officer. Each the EES web site and Service-public.fr say you may ask the officers what number of days you’ve got left.

EasyFranceNow’s information on how lengthy People can keep in France and not using a visa has extra examples, and what you may and can’t do throughout a visa-free keep.

What occurs for those who overstay

The EES is constructed to identify it. The EES FAQ says an individual discovered staying previous 90 days could be ordered to depart, normally with an opportunity to depart on their very own first. A return determination can include an entry ban recorded within the Schengen Info System, in precept for not more than 5 years. A traveler who has already used 90 days and tries to enter once more is refused on the border, and that refusal goes into the EES as effectively.

What else the border officer can ask for

The EES modifications how you’re registered, not what France border guidelines ask you to indicate. The entry situations for a brief keep are in Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code. Your passport should meet the validity guidelines given within the brief reply above. You have to additionally have the ability to clarify the aim and situations of your keep, and present that you’ve sufficient cash for it and for the journey dwelling.

The US Embassy in France warns that in case your passport doesn’t meet the Schengen guidelines, the airline could refuse to board you, and for that purpose it recommends at the least six months of validity everytime you journey. It additionally warns that France doesn’t settle for the 12-page US emergency passport for visa-free journey.

For tourism, Annex I of the identical code lists papers the officer could ask to see: proof of the place you’ll keep, the reserving of an organized journey or one other doc displaying your plans, and a return or round-trip ticket. If you’re touring with a tour firm, its reserving affirmation is a kind of paperwork, so hold it in your cellphone along with your resort particulars and your flight dwelling.

Hosted stays and different exceptions

Staying with pals or household provides one step. French immigration regulation says that any non-European customer coming for as much as three months on a household or personal go to should present proof of lodging within the type of an attestation d’accueil, a internet hosting certificates that the host indicators and has validated by the city corridor, for a €30 tax paid by the host. Service-public.fr provides {that a} customer who wants no visa reveals it on the exterior Schengen border, so the host has to get it validated earlier than you journey.

One group isn’t visa-free in any respect. France-Visas factors out that American journalists touring for work nonetheless want a French visa.

Staying longer than 90 days

If a visit is popping right into a season or a 12 months in France, the 90 days will not be one thing to stretch. France-Visas says any keep in France past 90 days requires a long-stay visa utilized for prematurely, and that your nationality doesn’t exempt you. Holders of a long-stay visa or a residence allow will not be registered within the EES, and their days in France are unnoticed of the 90/180 rely.

For a keep of about six months, EasyFranceNow’s information to staying in France for six months as an American compares the 90-day restrict with the customer visa. If you’re approaching scouting journeys earlier than a transfer, EasyFranceNow’s web page on scouting journeys and the 90/180 allowance reveals how repeat visits eat into the times you’ll have left for later journeys earlier than your transfer, and EasyFranceNow’s long-stay visa information covers the appliance from the US.

Earlier than you fly: a France border guidelines guidelines

1. Test your passport dates: legitimate at the least three months after you permit the Schengen space, issued throughout the final 10 years, and ideally six months of validity, because the US Embassy suggests.
2. Rely each Schengen day, in France or elsewhere, within the 180 days earlier than every day of your journey, together with the brand new journey.
3. Ignore any web site that provides to promote you an ETIAS at this time.
4. When you maintain an EU passport in addition to your US one, journey on the EU passport.
5. Hold your resort or tour reserving and your return ticket the place you may present them.
6. If you’re staying with pals or household, ask your host concerning the attestation d’accueil.
7. Enable additional time on the border the primary time the EES registers you, and at St Pancras for those who arrive from London.

Incessantly requested questions

Do People want a visa to go to France in 2027?

Not for tourism or enterprise as much as 90 days in any 180-day interval. The US Embassy in France says US residents with a sound passport can enter France for these journeys and not using a visa. For greater than 90 days, you want a long-stay visa, utilized for earlier than you permit.

Do I would like ETIAS for a visit to France proper now?

No. On the time of writing, the official ETIAS web site mentioned the system was not in operation and no purposes had been being collected. When it begins, will probably be non-compulsory for the primary six months.

Does the EES price something?

No. Registration is free and there may be nothing to do earlier than you journey. You give your fingerprints and a photograph on the border, or at a kiosk the place there may be one.

Do kids give fingerprints on the border?

Youngsters beneath 12 have their picture taken however not their fingerprints, in response to the official EES web site.

Do days within the UK or Eire rely towards the 90 days?

No. Neither nation is within the Schengen space. A visit there doesn’t reset your rely both: your earlier Schengen days hold counting till they fall out of the 180-day window.

How can I see what number of days I’ve left?

Use the EU’s Test how lengthy you may keep device, the European Fee’s short-stay calculator or EasyFranceNow’s Schengen 90/180 calculator, or ask the officer on the border.

The brand new France border guidelines don’t make a visit more durable than it was. The primary crossing takes a bit of longer, and after that the system retains the rely of your days. What nonetheless journeys folks up is the previous rule: the 90 days are shared throughout the Schengen nations and counted over a rolling 180-day window. Rely them earlier than you e book.

This text is common data, not authorized recommendation. Entry is determined by the border officer, and the beginning date of ETIAS by the European Union. Test the official pages listed under earlier than you journey.

In regards to the writer

Maxime Roseau is a co-founder of EasyFranceNow, a web site that helps People transfer to and settle in France. He works on long-stay visa purposes, VLS-TS validation, prefecture procedures and allow renewals. He holds a Grasp’s diploma in Enterprise and Communication from Université Good Sophia Antipolis.

Sources

• European Fee, Entry/Exit System (EES): https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/insurance policies/schengen/smart-borders/entry-exit-system_en
• EU Journey to Europe, FAQs about EES: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/faq
• EU Journey to Europe, How does the EES work?: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/how-does-the-ees-work
• EU Journey to Europe, Knowledge held by the EES: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/data-held-by-ees
• EU Journey to Europe, Test how lengthy you may keep: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/check-how-long-you-can-stay
• EU Journey to Europe, Journey to Europe cellular app: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/Journey-to-Europe-mobile-app
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• Official ETIAS web site, Incessantly requested questions: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias/faq
• Official ETIAS web site, Who ought to apply: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias/about-etias/who-should-apply
• Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 (ETIAS), consolidated textual content of June 12, 2026, Articles 18 and 83: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02018R1240-20260612
• European Fee, Quick-stay calculator: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/insurance policies/schengen/border-crossing/short-stay-calculator_en
• Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code), consolidated textual content of October 12, 2025, Article 6 and Annex I: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02016R0399-20251012
• France Diplomatie, EES: The brand new European border Entry/Exit System goes dwell on 10 April 2026 (up to date April 2026): https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/services-to-foreigners/visiting-france/ees-the-new-european-border-entryexit-system-goes-live-on-10-april-2026
• Service-public.fr, Séjour en France de moins de 3 mois : enregistrement dans le système européen d’entrée/sortie (F39104, checked by service-public on April 10, 2026): https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F39104
• Service-public.fr, Attestation d’accueil (F2191, checked by service-public on October 21, 2025): https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2191
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• GOV.UK, EU Entry/Exit System (up to date April 10, 2026): https://www.gov.uk/steering/eu-entryexit-system