UK citizens face fingerprint checks each time they visit EU

Biometrics app not ready, meaning travellers through Port of Dover will have to exit vehicles to have identity verified

Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister said a ‘big change’ in travel will be phased in from November. File Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

British citizens who travel frequently to the EU face having their fingerprints individually checked each time they cross the border into the Schengen area because of delays in developing an app to verify biometrics digitally, it has emerged.

It will be “business as usual” this summer but “a big change” in travel will be phased in from November, Doug Bannister, the chief executive of the Port of Dover has said.