Thanks, seawolf!

Just providing some recent datapoint.

I had a 4h layover at FRA this week. Flight arrived at 9AM, exited terminal and went up to the enrollment office by the Skytrain stop. No line or wait. Went inside and asked about Easypass. The German officer didn't appear to speak much English, she grabbed my passport and gave me a form to fill out. Everything was completed in less than 10min, official barely spoke a word to me. At the end, the official said my status should be activated in around 2h. I didn't try it out since I headed straight back to the gates and lounge. Will try on my next visit.

All in all, very straightforward and easy process.

I have enrolled and used Easy-pass many times before COVID. But since COVID my US passport have not worked. I even went to the enrollment office in FRA and was told not sure when US citizen will be able to use Easy-pass again. My last attempt was probably in NOV 2021. Has any US citizen been able to use Easy-pass since COVID?

Haven’t tried post Covid but pre Covid it was hit or miss if my passport would work at the egates. Luckily I haven’t encountered long lines at immigration recently.

Let me answer my own question. I was successful in using the e-gate at MUC on Thursday, 28 April with my US passport.

Thanks for this update!

We've had Easy-Pass RTP a few years now but got new passports in 2021. We plan to update our enrollment with the new passports while in MUC next month.

Anybody have specific details on where the enrollment office is in BER, beyond what is listed at https://www.easypass.de/EasyPass/EN/...pass_node.html

I'll have about one hour between scheduled arrival and my train departure so I don't have a ton of time to spend looking for it.

Once you leave the baggage claim area look for "Depature" signs, you have to go up one level ( train station would be down one level ). Once you're in the main departure hall look for the empore at the end of the hall, above security checkpoints 2/3/4. The border police station is up there.
Hint: look for the Starbucks signs, the police station is to the left of the starbucks.

How long is EasyPass valid for once you're enrolled? I joined in NOV19- hoping it still works on my upcoming trip (although pre-Covid I only had a ~50% success rate)

“If you complete the procedure successfully, you will be able to use EasyPASS-RTP instantly and for the remaining validity of your ePassport.”

https://www.easypass.de/EasyPass/EN/.../rtp_node.html

Hey, I am looking to apply for this. I found this information on the website for the Cologne airport (next DE airport I will be at):

Cologne/Bonn Airport, Terminal 1, Stairway 5, Level 0
Joint Police Station Federal Police/State Police

Opening hours: 24/7

Phone: 0049 (0) 2203-9522-2030
E-mail: [email protected]

This seems a bit...too good to be true? 24/7 opening access? Do you guys believe that you can apply at any hour of the day still for EasyPass? Or do you think there are sub-hours for it?

Just drop in and ask... either you will find a stressed officer who doesn't have time for such things or a very bored officer who is happy to do something different to kill time.

I had the paperwork filled out in advance, so it took about 2 minutes. Not sure if having registered previously expedited the process, but with a new passport it was necessary to sign up again anyway.

Was there week before last, with paperwork filled in prior to arriving. It helped speed things along (or at least they appreciated it). I was in a line with 4+ in front of me, but even then was pretty quick. The Border Guard even joked as he finished processing me that the binder was full so no more applicants (I'm pretty sure he was joking).

I used it a couple of days later to leave FRA and it worked no problem.

Do you mind clarifying where the SkyTrain stop is when you exited the terminal? I never use the SkyTrain at FRA so not familiar with it. When I last used the EasyPass-RTP enrollment center it was near the First Class check-in area. I think it's moved to the SkyTrain (wherever that is). Is it easy to find from the main terminal?

Thanks,
-RM

If you are landside and facing the entrance for the B gates, there is a station to your left.

Go up one set of escalators to the mezzanine level.

There is a bank on your left, the Bundespolizei is on your right.

It seems that certain countries like the US are now integrated into the new departure gate system: in MUC T1 US citzens are requested to use the egates when leaving the schengen area. In order to be ready for the new EES the German federal police has procured 170 'easykiosk' terminals from Secunet, 4 of which are already running as a pilot in FRA T2:
https://www.secunet.com/loesungen/easykiosk

I finally signed up for Easypass a few days ago. The cops were nice and it took 5 minutes. I think they appreciated that I had the forms filled out already.

I tried it for the first time departing FRA this morning, I was able to pass through the automated gates successfully. However, I was summoned to the desk. The officer seemed VERY irritated and kept asking for my German ID card, which I don't have. After asking me for it repeatedly (rapid-fire style) she eventually handed my passport to her colleague who stamped it and sent me on my way with no explanation.

Was this the way it is supposed to work? Or did it not work and the officers decided to just process me manually to get rid of me?

This is normal. Even with automated passport contrôle, non-EU nationals have to have a manual exit stamp.

"After successful face recognition, registered travellers (RTs) from outside the EU - in contrast to the usual EasyPASS procedure - will see a special symbol and have to wait until a border guard opens the exit door.

RTs have to move forward to the monitoring booth, which is located directly behind the EasyPASS gate. An officer will then check the additional entry requirements and stamp the passport.

After that procedure the border check is completed."

Similar procedure is in place at CDG apparently (without need for registration).

This happened to me last month, but without the irritation. They just stamped my passport and let me through. I'll say it helped save time in the horrendous lines, but I was later foiled with issues in the security line.

Thanks for your responses. Usually the Bundespolizei are neutral to pleasant, so I imagine I just got unlucky.

Sounds like that officer didn't get the memo and wasn't aware of easyPass-RTP process requires stamping. Had that happen once or twice.

Or perhaps s/he wasn’t aware of easyPass-RTP at all, given the questions about a German ID.

I had very pleasant experiences in FRA and MUC last week signing up for and using easyPass. I am an American and was flying ORD-FRA-PRG with a 4-hour layover. After landing in FRA, I made my way to the Bundespolezei with the paperwork filled in, arriving at 6:30am. The sign on the door said they open at 7:00, but there were two officers inside. I stuck my head in and asked, "When you open at 7:00 is this the office I go to to sign up for easyPass?" The officer smiled, waived me in, and entered my info into the computer. About 2 minutes later he thanked me, and I was on my way to the gate.

I flew home later in the week MUC-ORD and I used the autogates to enter the terminal. Although there was a long line for the "regular" passport control. I was the only one at the autogates. I scanned my passport, smiled for the camera and the gates opened up; The passport officer smiled, stamped my passport without asking any questions, and I was on my way.

MUC has installed new egates in T1 & T2 that allow you to leave the country even without any prior registration (if you are from a country that has issued biometric passports). They are on the far right in T1B and on the far left in T2.

So I tried to use this in November when I was leaving the EU zone, and scanning my passport did not work the first 2 tries. I went to another terminal, and then it worked. When coming back into the EU Zone (via Germany), I tried again to scan my passport a few times, and it did not work again.

Any ideas why? I had the EasyPass-RTP approved, but now I can't seem to get a response from them via email as to what might not be setup with my account correctly.

When did you register? I was registered before the Pandemic, but they turned off EP-RTP for a while during the Pandemic. I had to re-register a couple of months ago to get it working again.

Enrolled today on my way out of frankfurt. Took around 15 mins with no line, officer didnt know much english. Just pointed and smiled at everything. About 3 pages of very simple paperwork

They didnt ask for my email or anything so i assuming i am signed up now.

Yes i had a transfer at cdg last week and they sent me to the eu line with my us passport. You scan your passport, walk in take a picture walk out and have your passport stamped. No questions asked. It was great, i looked to see if it was all of europe but looks like its not. Thats why i signed up for easypass.

sorry never saw this. I registered last summer. I will try it again when I pass thru FRA in a couple of weeks, but i don’t have high hopes it will work :(

MasterGberry Please do follow up here about your next experience as I had a similar situation occur to me. I registered about a month ago at the beginning of a trip. Everyone here has generally reported almost instant access but two weeks later, I was unable to use the automated gate for my exit processing in FRA. I'm headed back next week and will let you know whether I can use it or what I can find out from the Bundespolizei.

Definitely let me know. I spoke to the Bundespolizei in Frankfurt, and they said it should just work. They said sometimes it fails to read the document correctly. Unfortunately they also told me since I registered in Cologne they can’t look me up to see if it worked. I will also report back here when I fly out next week what happens.

I flew to BER via FRA today. Tried the automated gate at FRA and it didn’t work. I only tried one as I had a tight connection. After landing in BER, I spoke to the police. They took my passport and tried it themselves at a gate. It registered fine for them and they showed me a picture they took of the machine working with my passport. They suggested that if one gate fails I should try the other gates nearby.

As we must still get our passports stamped, I wonder if perhaps the issue is that we must use the gate closest to the desk?

When you guys writing didn’t work, please clarify.

The gate is NOT suppose to open for RTP even after facial recognition. Bundespolizei manually triggers the gate to open from their booth so that you can get your stamp.

To clarify, i mean that I could not enter the first gate in order to have my biometrics tested. The scanning of my passport failed.

This happened to me last trip - inbound and outbound. I even went by the office and they verified I was in their system, but mentioned that the placement of the numbers on the passport don't line up with the passport scanner very well and you have to find the right placement. Last trip I could not. It worked previous trips.

Funny enough, the only time I got it to work I had to use two diff machines. First it didn’t work, second it did. I will see what happens on Monday…

Reporting in that today it worked. First try, no second machine needed. A nice gentleman was there to help and actually showed me that I had the passport a bit too far into the machine. It then read my passport quickly.

Didn't work at FRA on both exit and entry. Had been over two weeks since I had signed up, and on the day of departure I went to the office to confirm that it was ready for use. Tried at both B and Z exit points, and entrance into B. I told the officer at the manual desk when returning that it wasn't working and he came and tried it for me, he apologized and said to check on it with the office in Frankfurt (where I had registered). If it makes a difference, I hold a long-term "D" visa. The passport reads but system tells me to walk to officer/line. First set of doors does not open. Will report back on if it works in Munich.

Did you try all the gates at each? If so, then perhaps two weeks is simply not enough time for it to be processed. I used it this morning in FRA and it worked fine for me heading from Z to A.