Fast-track crossing at external borders (PARAFE)
In compliance with Community provisions, the “PARAFE” system meets the challenges of a modern and effective administration, at the service of its users (articles R. 232-6 to R. 232-11 of the French Code of internal security — Code de la sécurité intérieure).
The system of fast-track crossing at external borders, called “PARAFE” allows for an automated control of travelers in France, when they enter or exit the Schengen area. EU/EEA citizens are eligible, as well as certain third-country nationals in possession of a biometric passport.
Combined with a biometric authentication technology based on facial recognition, this system makes it possible to carry out the formalities necessary for border crossing in an automated, smooth and quick manner. PARAFE represents a swift alternative to the manual control of travel documents for border crossing.
Travelers eligible to PARAFE
In order to use a PARAFE airlock, whether at an airport, railway station or harbor, travelers must:
Be a national from a country eligible for entry [1] ) into or exit [2] from the Schengen area ;
Hold a valid biometric passport;
Be aged over 12 years old for entry, and over 18 for exit.
The PARAFE system is not mandatory. Travelers can choose the manual control of their travel documents by a border guard at the checkpoint.
Border crossing points equipped with PARAFE airlocks
You can use PARAFE in the following airports:
- Roissy-Charles de Gaulle
- Orly
- Bâle-Mulhouse
- Bordeaux
- Lyon
- Marseille
- Nice
You can use PARAFE in the following railway stations:
- Gare du Nord (Eurostar)
- Saint Pancras station in London (Eurostar)
- Coquelles terminal in France (Eurotunnel)
- Folkestone terminal in the United Kingdom (Eurotunnel)
You can also use PARAFE at the Port of Calais.
How to use PARAFE
Once at the PARAFE airlock, you will need to follow these steps:
- Present yourself, alone, at the PARAFE’s entry gate
- Remove glasses, scarf, hat and mask
- Place your passport on the document reader at the gate’s entrance, on the page with the picture
- Once the screen displays that the passport has correctly been read, enter the airlock
- Look at the camera following the instructions displayed on the screen
- Exit the airlock when border crossing controls are completed and the airlock’s exit doors open
Use by minors
Minors over 12 years old can use PARAFE, but only for entry into French territory (when arriving from a destination located in a non-Schengen country). Travelers must be over 18 years old to use PARAFE for exiting French territory (when leaving for a destination located in a non-Schengen country).
Eligibility rules applicable to minors are the same as adults: your travel document must be biometric and valid, and your nationality eligible.
Data protection information
The processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, vested in the data controller, the French Ministry of Interior (Directorate General for Foreigners in France), in accordance with the modified law n°78-17 of January 6th 1978 pertaining to IT, databases and liberties, and to the General Data Protection Regulation.
The traveler’s processed personal data are those contained in their passport. These data are processed during the verification operated by the airlock’s camera. The data in question are the surname, first name, date of birth, nationality, scanned facial image, type and number of travel document, three-letters code of the travel document’s issuing country, and date of expiry.
French border guards are the recipients of all personal data processed.
These data are stored only until the PARAFE airlock’s exit doors open. Travelers’ personal data are indeed deleted from the PARAFE system as soon as border crossing is effective.
PARAFE queries the following databases:
- Schengen information system (SIS)
- Interpol’s database for stolen and lost travel documents (SLTD)
- French database of wanted persons (FPR)
It is not mandatory to use the PARAFE system for border crossing. The traveler can choose the manual control of their travel document by a border guard at the checkpoint.
You have the right to object, access and rectify any data concerning you. You also have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. To exercise your rights or for any question related to the processing of your data in the framework of PARAFE, you can contact us by e-mail:
donnees-personnelles-dgef@interieur.gouv.fr
This data processing is controlled by the ministerial data protection officer of the French Ministry of Interior (Délégué ministériel à la protection des données – Ministère de l’intérieur – Place Beauvau – 75800 Paris Cedex 08). If after contacting us, you consider that your rights under the 1978 law pertaining to IT, to databases and liberties, are not respected, you can file a complaint to the French data protection authority (CNIL).
Legal references
European law:
- Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen borders code)
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)
French legislative and regulatory acts:
- French Code of Internal Security (Code de la sécurité intérieure): articles R232-6 to R232-11-2
- Decree of the Minister of Interior and Overseas territories which lists third countries eligible to PARAFE for entry into the territory
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[1] Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New-Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America. A partir de l’été 2023 : Argentina, Chili, Mexico, Israël, Peru
[2] Toute la liste ci-dessus, à laquelle on rajoute :Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroun, China, Côte d’Ivoire, East Timor, Ecuador, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Nepal, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint-Kitts and Nevis, Serbia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican, Zimbabwe.