Since EES became mandatory on April 10th, delays caused by the system seem to have worsened significantly in Italy. On Sunday, more than 100 people missed a flight from Milan's Linate airport due to long queues at passport control.
In that case, most of the people affected were visitors and there appeared to be a technical problem with registration. But another group of passengers is also facing long delays whenever they enter Italy following the introduction of the system.
Italy's international residents - those without an EU passport - have told The Local that they're experiencing especially long wait times at Italian airports as they must now use the longer, slower "All Passports" lane.
On other occasions, they've been told to use the EU lane, or say they've been given contradictory instructions by airport staff.
Q&A: What are the EES rules for residents arriving at Italian airports?
One reader who has experienced this first-hand is Daniel, an Australian citizen and permanent resident of Italy.
"I'm a frequent flyer, so I travel through Fiumicino a lot, and what has stood out is how inconsistent the instructions have been," he tells us.
"On one arrival, after a Singapore Airlines flight, I told the officer directing people at the start of the very long All Passports queue that I am an Australian citizen and a permanent resident in Italy. I was then told simply to use the EU line, and I went through with no problem."
"On another recent arrival, with Turkish Airlines, I was stopped when I tried to do the same and was told to go back and join the All Passports queue instead. That queue took exactly 1 hour and 43 minutes."
Before his next trip, Daniel wrote to Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Rome's airports, to ask which line he should use. Their reply: "dovrà utilizzare i varchi automatici come sempre, senza fare EES" — you should continue to use the automatic gates as usual, without doing EES.
"I then followed exactly that instruction. However, when I went to use the automatic gates, staff would not allow me through because I did not have the coloured EES label."
"In my case, I have now had three different answers in practice: use the EU line, use the automatic gates, and use All Passports."
"That is the real issue," Daniel says. "There seems to be no consistent instruction for non-EU permanent residents in Italy who are exempt from EES."
His experience reflects a problem several readers have reported since the system was first introduced in October 2025.
Non-EU residents travelling on non-EU passports find themselves in a gap in the system: exempt from EES registration, but needing to prove that with residency paperwork - and unable to use the EU lane or the automated gates.
Readers have told The Local previously that being sent to the "All Passports" queue due to EES rules meant it took them "longer to get through than a tourist on a UK passport," while others say border guards didn't seem to "have a clue that residency holders are exempt."
Daniel adds that "it seems hard to justify that permanent residents in Italy, who live here and pay tax here, can in practice be left with a worse border process than short-term visitors.
"Meanwhile, anyone being processed under EES was moving through the automatic gates, which I had also used myself without issue before EES."
Aeroporti di Roma did not respond to a request from The Local for clarification on their application of the rules.
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