France Marseille Provence Airport border control

PARAFE (abbreviation of Passage Automatisé Rapide Aux Frontières Extérieures or automated fast-track crossing at external borders) is a passport verification and border control system deployed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and operated by French

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

s. PARAFE consists of automated self-service gates, located at certain French border checkpoints (in arrival and departure halls) and offer a faster alternative to manual checks at desks staffed by border guards. The gates use

facial recognition Facial recognition or face recognition may refer to: *Face detection, often a step done before facial recognition *Face perception, the process by which the human brain understands and interprets the face *Pareidolia, which involves, in part, seein ...

technology to verify the user's identity against the data stored in the chip in their

biometric passport A biometric passport (also known as an electronic passport, e-passport or a digital passport) is a passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip, which contains biometrics, biometric information that can be used to authenticate ...

. PARAFE gates are available for travels from or to countries which are not signatory of the Schengen agreements.

Eligibility

Eligibility for entry and exit

At present, citizens of the following countries can use the PARAFE gates for both entering and exiting the

Schengen area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

, provided that they are aged 18 years or over and hold valid

biometric passports A biometric passport (also known as an electronic passport, e-passport or a digital passport) is a passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip, which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identit ...

. Prior to 30 March 2019, only EU/EEA and

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

biometric passport holders could use the PARAFE gates. On 30 March 2019, eligibility was extended to Andorran, Monegasque and San Marinese biometric passport holders. On 31 December 2020, eligibility was further extended to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

, South Korean and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

biometric passport holders, and continued for

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

passport holders after the end of the

Brexit transition period The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

. On 30 June 2023, eligibility was further extended to

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

, Chilean,

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, Israeli and

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

biometric passport holders.

Eligibility for entry only (minors)

Minors aged 12–17 who hold a valid biometric passport from the above table are also eligible to use the gates on arrival into Schengen territory, but not on departure because the French authorities have strict rules about unaccompanied minors leaving the country.

Eligibility for exit only

On 30 June 2023, eligibility on exit of the Schengen area was extended to all adults (aged 18 years or over), without condition of citizenship. Travellers remain subjected to the possession of a valid biometric passport. As of July 2023, this means passport holders from the following countries can use PARAFE:

Optional nature

The PARAFE system is not mandatory. Travellers can choose to have their travel documents manually checked by a border guard at the checkpoint.

Operation

To use the PARAFE gates, the traveller must have a biometric passport from one of the eligible countries (these ePassports have the biometric logo on the front cover). A computer in the gate scanner reads all the information contained in the chip inside the passport, while a camera takes a picture of the passenger from which biometric patterns are verified against those from the picture saved in the passport chip. The ePassport gate scanner reads all the information contained in the chip inside the passport and runs the data against numerous databases to determine if the traveller is a security risk, while a camera takes a picture of the traveller and an officer at a control station behind the gates checks that the image captured by the camera matches the one on the passport (facial recognition). Once the data verification and facial recognition process is complete, doors will automatically either open, signifying that the traveller is permitted to enter and/or exit the country, or remain closed and a stop icon illuminate, demonstrating that the traveller has failed the security checks and will personally meet with immigration officials.

Availability

At present, PARAFE Gates are available at the following locations: *

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

Paris Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (, ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris. It serves as a seconda ...

Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport () is an international airport of Bordeaux, in southwestern France. It is situated in the Communes of France, ''commune'' of Mérignac, Gironde, Mérignac, west of Bordeaux, within the ''Departments of France, dé ...

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area is an international airport in the administrative commune of Saint-Louis, in the French Alsace part of the Trination ...

Marseille Provence Airport Marseille Provence Airport () is an international airport located 27 km (17 miles) northwest of Marseille, on the territory of Marignane, both '' communes'' of the Bouches-du-Rhône ''département'' in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regi ...

Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport — formerly known as ''Lyon Satolas Airport'' — is an international airport of Lyon, the third-largest city in France and an important transport facility for the entire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It lies in ...

Nice Airport Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionEurostar Paris Gare du Nord Terminal * Eurostar London St Pancras Terminal (

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Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal The Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal is a railway terminal built for the transport of road-going vehicles on specially constructed trains through the Channel Tunnel. The station is located in Cheriton, a northern suburb of the town of Folkestone ...

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Eurotunnel Calais Terminal The Eurotunnel Calais Terminal is a railway terminal built for the transport of road-going vehicles on specially constructed trains through the Channel Tunnel. The station is located in the commune of Coquelles in the Pas-de-Calais department ...

Port of Calais The Port of Calais in northern France is the country's fourth largest port and the largest for passenger traffic. It accounts for more than a third of economic activity in the town of Calais. Background The Port of Calais was the first cable ...

History

The previous generation of the PARAFE eGates used fingerprint technology verify the identity of the passenger and was first introduced in 2010. This was phased out since it was considered "insufficiently intuitive" (which hand, which finger), a slower process and non-French citizens had to actively sign up at a French airport every 5 years to be able to use the eGates. The first eGates were replaced in early 2017 for a pilot project of the facial recognition technology, which was extended to more airports and St Pancras station throughout the rest of 2017 and 2018.

External links

Crossing Borders: PARAFE, the automated immigration gates

References

{{Reflist Authentication methods Biometric databases Biometrics Border crossings of France Expedited border crossing schemes Fingerprints Identification