Share The Article

Last year, the European Union took Americans by surprise when it started rolling out a new Entry-Exit System (EES) that involves fingerprinting all foreign visitors to ensure they comply with visitor rules.

For context, as a tourist, you only get 90 days (out of any 180-day period) across the border-free Schengen Area, which comprises most European states—and it’s set to expand again later this year—but prior to the EES, verifications were carried out rather rudimentarily.

You know those passport stamps you get when crossing an international border?

That’s how border officers were expected to check whether it had been over 90 days since your arrival in Schengen, and how much time you’ve got left in your current count.

Laborious, manual, and most importantly, not a fireproof method.

The EES changes things: by providing your biometric information, the system automatically counts down your allowed length of stay in Schengen now.

The downside, at least for some?

It involves giving your fingerprints to a foreign government—something many travelers are understandably wary of—and if you think that’s nonsense, even on a practical level, the amount of queuing and on-arrival bureaucracy can frustrate even the most passive, nod-and-smile travelers.

If you’re not exactly looking forward to the year of travel chaos ahead, as both the EES, and the upcoming ETIAS (the Schengen Area’s new mandatory travel permit) get a wider rollout, here are 5 European countries that couldn’t care less about recording fingerprints:

Ireland

Though it is a member of the European Union, Ireland does not participate in the Schengen Area of its own volition: it prefers to remain in its own ‘mini Schengen’ with the United Kingdom, or, as it is officially known, the Common Travel Area (CTA).

There is no routine passport control for those traveling within the CTA, which includes England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland itself. On the other hand, there is passport control going from Ireland to mainland Europe.

Serbia

Despite being a European country, Serbia is not a member of the European Union or the Schengen Area. Thus, it is not obliged to implement EES or adopt the upcoming ETIAS once it fully launches in a few months.

A landlocked Balkan country that’s becoming trendier by the minute, it is spearheaded by Belgrade, a sprawling capital city on the banks of the Danube and Sava rivers, combining both Old World charm and industrial grit.

Some people even say it’s the new Berlin.

Montenegro

Serbia’s coastal cousin, Montenegro is a tiny nation straddling the Adriatic Sea that’s racking up an insane amount of popularity thanks to its fairytale ancient towns right on the water, scenic bays, and impressive mountain-traversed hinterland.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kotor is effectively a smaller-scale Dubrovnik: same Dalmatian-style stone houses, timeless cobbled streets flanked by slender, ocher-colored edifices with green shutters, and even the same Romanesque churches… but considerably smaller crowds.

Budva, a short drive south of Kotor, is a walled town dating back thousands of years, dominated by a soaring belfry, and hugged by turquoise waters.

Turkey

While most European (and Asian) countries have moved to tighten entry rules for U.S. passport holders, Turkey (or Türkiye) has notoriously gone the opposite way entirely.

Turkey used to be one of the fussiest destinations for Americans country-hopping across the pond: Americans simply couldn’t decide to rock up to Turkey and expect to be let in.

The Erdogan-led country used to require U.S. travelers to apply for a mandatory eVisa before visiting, and let’s face it, filling out an online form and paying a fee wasn’t exactly a huge barrier, but there’s no denying it feels more welcoming and a heck of a lot easier not to have to do it.

Then, in 2024, Turkey formally announced Americans are officially exempt from eVisa requirements.

From that year onward, a valid passport and a return or onward ticket would be all that was required of U.S. vacationers landing in Istanbul for some cultural sightseeing, or in Antalya for that much-needed beach break.

The decision has proven a success: Turkey is now one of the most sought-after destinations by the yanks. Needless to say, it has no intentions to reinstate visa barriers, nor add fingerprinting in the foreseeable future.

Moldova

There’s no denying European nations are keeping a very cautious stance toward foreign arrivals lately. Yet another exception to the rule, Moldova has quietly carved its own path, one that’s far surprisingly more open than most people give it credit for.

Talk about being a post-USSR state, wedged between the equally-formally-socialist Ukraine and Romania, and not yet jumping on the fingerprinting bandwagon.

Now, let’s not pretend like the main reason for that is Moldova’s outlier status in Europe: it’s been kept at arm’s distance, but firmly outside the European Union and Schengen, and cozying up to Brussels as it may be, it’s far from being on the EES’s immediate radar.

Moldova offers visa-free entry for U.S. passport holders for up to 90 days (in any 180-day period). That’s very similar to Schengen Area rules, except visiting Moldova won’t count toward your Schengen limit.

It doesn’t boast the high-profile status of its neighbors, but that’s precisely why it’s so alluring:

Chișinău is an unassuming, understated capital, filled with tree-lined boulevards and richly decorated Orthodox churches, whereas its Transnistrian rival, Tiraspol, is the perfectly preserved Soviet time capsule, where the calendar seems to have stalled somewhere in the early ’90s.

Fascinating stuff, and no unnecessary arrival scrutiny.

Vinicius Costa

Vini, our senior lead writer at Travel Off Path, has over 60+ countries under his belt (and currently weaving tales from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative stories that will have you packing your bags.