By Caroline Lips, Head of Marketing for Staysure Expat
Reports of huge queues in European airports are worrying travellers this summer. Foreign residents from outside the European Union, legally registered to live in Europe, are confused. I’ve seen the confusion first-hand at the airport and also reflected on Facebook groups where I live in Spain. We wanted to see just how bad it was, and what was worrying expat travellers, so we conducted *a survey on the Staysure Expat social media channels in June to find out. It revealed that 33 percent of respondents said they did not feel enough information has been provided to travellers about the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System and 35 percent wanted more clarity on whether it applies to them as expats with residence cards.
Further confusion was uncovered by the survey regarding the use of e-gates for passport checks. Forty-two percent of respondents thought they could use e-gates if they have a European residency card and 40 percent didn’t think they could.
Mistakenly using the e-gates could falsely identify you as having overstayed the short-stay tourist visa limit and cause problems with future travel, so getting it right is key.
Skip the queues
The good news is that non-EU citizens living in Europe with a residence visa definitely do not have to use the EES system and so they can skip the queues. The European Union’s official Travel Europe portal for the Entry/Exit System clearly states that the EES does not apply to “holders of residence permits and long-stay visas.” The United Kingdom’s FCDO confirms this by stating, “If you are long-term resident in a Schengen country, you are exempt from EES in all Schengen countries.”
Holders of a residence card for an EU country, even with a third-country passport, can use the residents’ lane.
So head to the queue marked for EU / EEA / Swiss citizens and Residents – do not simply join the end of the EES line. Hold your passport and your residence card in your hand when going to that line, so that officers know you’re entitled to use it.
You shouldn’t use the e-gates because they scan your passport only, not your residence card, and this could log you as a short stay visitor and lead to automated “overstayer” alerts and potential complications the next time you travel.
Go to the manned desks and present your passport and your residence card together. The officer will visually verify your residency, manually process your entry without logging your fingerprints or photo into the short-stay database, and wave you through.
The queues for the manned passport control desks seem to be moving significantly faster than the EES lanes, so that’s a real benefit for expats with residence cards.
Our survey also indicated that 33 percent of respondents wanted clear airport signage to reduce confusion and 28 percent would value a simple step-by-step guide to help them to understand systems like the EES better. We’ve written a blog answering the most frequently asked questions about the EES in response to these findings and will be continuing to release useful travel advice for expats living in Spain, France and Portugal on our social media channels @staysureexpat on Instagram and @staysure.expat on
Facebook and welcome any questions or queries you may have.
* Informal survey conducted among 82 members of the Staysure Expat community in Spain during June 2026.
About the author:
Caroline Lips is Head of Marketing for specialist expat travel insurance provider Staysure Expat. A British expat in Spain herself, who relocated from the UK to the Costa del Sol in 2013, she enjoys the region’s year-round sunshine, outdoor lifestyle and vibrant international community, and is a champion for expat life in Spain, France and Portugal.
Already a Spanish speaker and long-time fan of Spain, Caroline has since developed a successful marketing careerwhile building a life on the Costa del Sol.
Staysure Expat is a trading name of Avanti Group Solutions. Products are administered by Howserv Europe, S.L., acting as an exclusive agent
