Border control at France airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Non-EU nationals on a short stay are registered in the Entry/Exit System (EES) each time they cross the external border. The system records name, travel document data, fingerprints, facial images and the date and place of entry and exit. It records refusals of entry too. Since 10 April 2026 it has replaced passport stamping ¹.

Travellers can choose a staffed desk or, if eligible, a PARAFE gate. Service-Public, the official French administration portal, says PARAFE is optional and free. Anyone can ask for a manual check by a border guard, for example a person with a disability or an older traveller ⁴.

PARAFE gates run at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Basel-Mulhouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Nice airports. They run at Gare du Nord and St Pancras for Eurostar, at the Eurotunnel terminals in Coquelles and Folkestone, and at the port of Calais ⁴.

Entry permission: visa, ETIAS and security checks

France issues Schengen short-stay visas. Applicants lodge them at the consulate of the country they will visit, at least 15 days and no more than six months before travel. Fingerprints are collected when the application is lodged ².

As checked on 19 October 2026, the fee is €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 12. Applicants from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus pay €35 and applicants from Cabo Verde pay €67.50. Processing normally takes 15 days and can take up to 45 ².

France set up a national service for travel authorisation checks, the Service national des enquêtes d'autorisation de voyage (SNEAV), by decree no. 2021-1138 of 1 September 2021. A parliamentary amendment of 28 October 2022 describes it as the French ETIAS national unit. It carries out reinforced security checks before consulates issue visas ³.

That amendment explains that each ETIAS application triggers automated searches of personal data files. A hit, or anything that needs analysis, sends the file to a SNEAV officer for manual review. The law committee adopted the amendment, which allows the TAJ police records file to be consulted for visa and travel authorisation applications ³.

Biometrics and eGates: PARAFE

PARAFE is the French system of automated border gates. Users need a valid biometric passport. EU citizens can use a biometric national identity card. Minors aged 12 and over may use the gates on arrival in France only ⁴.

Nationals of EU and Schengen states, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Peru, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States can use PARAFE on arrival and departure ⁴.

A longer list of nationalities can use PARAFE only when leaving France for a country outside Schengen. It includes Albania, Algeria, Brazil, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Qatar, Thailand, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, among others ⁴.

The traveller enters alone, removes glasses, scarf, hat and mask, places the passport photo page on the reader and looks at the camera for face recognition ⁴.

The gate uses name, first name, date of birth, nationality, passport type, number and expiry date, and a digital image of the face. Service-Public says the data is kept only for the time spent in the gate. All personal data is deleted once the traveller has passed through ⁴.

Passenger data: API and PNR

The CNIL, the French data protection authority, describes the API-PNR system as a file for monitoring air travel. It holds two types of data. API data comes from check-in and the passport. PNR data comes from the booking files that airlines create for each flight ⁵.

The system covers flights to and from foreign countries. It does not cover flights between two airports in metropolitan France ⁵.

The CNIL lists the data held. It includes name, date of birth, booking and travel dates, address, phone number, email, payment methods, the full itinerary and other names in the booking. It includes the border crossing point, flight times, passenger or crew status, and the number, weight and identification of bags. Sensitive data such as religion, political opinion and medical details is not held ⁶.

In guidance written when the system was an experiment running to 31 December 2017, the CNIL said it was run by the Unité Information Passagers (UIP), a unit attached to the minister responsible for customs. Airlines send data straight to the UIP, not to police, gendarmerie or intelligence services. Those services, and customs, can consult it ^5,7.

A government order of 16 December 2019, published on 21 December 2019, created a Service national des données de voyage (SNDV) under the head of the national police. Air Journal reported that it was set up to collect and use booking, check-in and boarding data for air, sea and land transport, for the defence, interior and customs ministers ⁹.

Watch lists and checks

Each PARAFE gate queries four databases: the Schengen Information System, the Interpol database of stolen and lost travel documents (SLTD), the Interpol database of travel documents linked to notices (TDAWN), and the French wanted persons file (FPR) ⁴.

The API-PNR system stores the results of matches against the wanted persons file, the Schengen Information System, the file of reported objects and vehicles, a computerised anti-fraud system and the Interpol stolen and lost documents database ⁶.

When it was consulted on the system, the CNIL said API-PNR could seriously interfere with privacy, given the number of people and the volume of data involved. It said the guarantees the Interior Ministry added at its request reduced these risks. It said it would use its inspection powers if needed ⁸.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

For PARAFE, travellers have the right to access their data and the rights to object, to correct data and to limit processing. Requests go to the Interior Ministry at [email protected]. The ministry's data protection officer oversees this processing ⁴.

A traveller who still thinks their rights were not respected can file a complaint with the CNIL ⁴.

The CNIL said the API-PNR rules set a limited retention period and a closed list of users, and that airlines must give travellers clear information about the system in a language they understand ^7,8.

Who runs the systems

The Interior Ministry handles PARAFE data requests ⁴. The SNEAV carries out ETIAS and visa security checks ³. The CNIL described the UIP as the unit running API-PNR ⁵, and the SNDV was created in 2019 under the national police ⁹.

Service-Public says the data used at PARAFE gates is meant for the officers acting as border guards ⁴.

Security screening on departure

In a written answer published on 3 May 2011, the Interior Ministry said airport security checks in France are carried out by specialised companies. They work under national and European rules and a specification drawn up by the client, such as an airline, airport operator or freight company. The outsourcing dates from a law of 26 February 1996 ¹⁰.

The ministry said screening staff undergo a double approval of their good character and must complete initial and ongoing training. It said they must be certified by or for the civil aviation authority, the DGAC ¹⁰.

The answer said police and gendarmerie services check every day that European standards and state security measures are applied. Since 2002, prefects can fine people or firms that fail to apply security measures, up to €7,500 ¹⁰.