Europe airport family queue

[Middleaged73]

Just went through arrivals at Seville airport-I was all ready to jump into the queue to register my biometrics when the guard called me back to go to a family queue (with my dh and teenage daughter) and just showed my passport to the guard on passport control. I think they want to keep family together especially when it is busier. Will this now be a problem when we depart Seville??? As we won’t have gk d through the system??

I'm recently back from a Spanish island. I did register on the new Entry Exit system (EES) - it took less than 5 minutes; I was impressed.

Some families were being ushered to a guard - but I did see some completing the registration on the inbound journey too.

I don't think it's a problem whichever way you do it - or even if you miss it this time. We were told it may or may not happen depending on how busy the airport is.

I went to Spain earlier this year and was scanned on the way in but they just stamped my passport on the way out, have been quizzed at two other EU airports, the first one saying that I was still in Spain then the second one repeatedly asking where else I'd been but on both occasions they let me in when I pointed out the stamp in my passport saying I had left Spain. I feel like it would be more straightforward if they just let us use the machines. Weird how some airports let teens use them and some don't.

There does seem to be a lack of consistency. In Fuerteventura airport, teens could register but no-one with an 11-year-old or younger in their party could 🤷.

The guard didn’t even stamp the passport, it’s so strange

It's hit/miss if they do at Fuerteventura (going back years) and they definitely don't do it in the States 🤷

I scanned my passport and it just said go to e gate - no photo or fingerprints
DH came behind me and he had to do everything. No idea why the discrepancy

I went to lanzarote in June. Didn’t scan in or out, went through the Manual family check both times.

There appears to be lack of consistency throughout Europe. I’ve been waived through on occasion and in spite of that l’ve now been fingerprinted 3 times.

When l left Paris fairly recently, l was fingerprinted (again) but the friend l was travelling with was not fingerprinted at all and it was her first time in mainland Europe since the system was introduced.

That's been my experience and I'm never sure whether I needed to go to the machine or not.

The first time I did with my current passport it wouldn't read my fingerprints in multiple attempts and told me to go to a manual desk. Been to Spain a couple more times since and I think they might have given up with fingerprints but its never taken more than a few minutes in or out.

However it was awful at a German airport, an hour in and out.

I wasn’t even asked for fingerprints or a photo and DH was! It just scanned the passport and said proceed to e gate. No human involvement. Was weird.