At a land border post, the day’s routine is usually written in small gestures: a document handed over, a glance exchanged, a car rolling forward in inches. Now, Andorra has formalized an agreement with the European Union meant to keep that routine from turning into a stop-and-start bottleneck once the Entry/Exit System (EES) is applied—by removing systematic border controls on people, including EES registration, while maintaining the random checks that already exist.
What did Andorra and the European Union sign, and who is exempt?
The agreement regulates several aspects related to the management of Andorra’s land borders. Its core effect is to eliminate systematic checks on people at the border that would otherwise be associated with EES registration. Under this framework, citizens of Andorra and nationals of European Union member states will not have to undergo EES registration. The same exemption applies to non-EU foreign nationals who hold a residence permit issued by the Government of Andorra.
The intention of the negotiation was explicit: to ensure that implementing the EES would not mean exhaustive or continuous control at Andorra’s borders. The practical model remains what drivers and travelers have known—random checks carried out by local police—rather than systematic inspection of all vehicles at the country’s land border crossings.
How does the Entry/Exit System affect citizens of Andorra in practice?
Even with the EES moving toward full operation, the Government of Andorra has emphasized that Andorran citizens are not subject to the system. That means no obligation for biometric registration or a prior travel authorization connected to EES for movement within the Schengen area. The government has also raised a practical concern: in some cases, Andorran passports have been incorrectly requested for EES registration due to misunderstanding among control personnel or transport operators.
Such erroneous registration can have consequences that feel bureaucratic but land heavily on real lives—administrative problems later on, including incorrect calculations of permitted stays and potential records of overstaying in the Schengen area. People affected are instructed to contact the competent authority to request annulment of the incorrect registration.
For Andorra residents who are nationals of countries outside the European Union, the government has drawn a distinction between the present and what comes next. Until the border-management agreement between Andorra and the European Union is ratified and applied, those residents are advised to inform themselves in advance about entry requirements in Schengen countries other than Spain and France. Once the agreement is ratified and applied, those residents—after completing the corresponding security evaluation—will be able to circulate in the Schengen area for short stays without needing a visa, without ETIAS authorization, and without being registered in the EES at external borders.
Why the deal focuses on random checks—and what changes for residents
Officials have framed the agreement as both a mobility and security measure. It retains the existing model of random controls, avoiding a shift to systematic checks that could reshape daily cross-border life. At the same time, it introduces a clearer structure around evaluation and security verification before residence permits are granted.
Under the agreement’s approach for third-country nationals seeking residency, Andorra will offer a temporary authorization while France or Spain evaluate candidates. If a threat is detected, France or Spain can ask that the residence permit be denied. If the evaluation is favorable, the person can receive a residence permit that enables short stays across the Schengen area without a visa, without ETIAS, and without EES registration at the external borders.
This is presented as an improvement over the previous situation, where mobility rights were limited to movement between France and Spain. The agreement also aligns with a requirement already integrated into Andorran law: that a traveler has not exceeded the maximum 90 days of authorized stay within a six-month period in the Schengen area.
The framework also addresses how tourist stays by third-country nationals interact with the EES logic of counting time: for tourists who are nationals of third countries, the agreed rules mean that to avoid EES registration, time spent in Andorra will count within the Schengen stay limits.
Who is speaking, and what comes next for Andorra
The agreement was presented publicly by Xavier Espot, Head of Government of Andorra, alongside Imma Tor, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Landry Riba, Secretary of State for Relations with the European Union. Espot said the outcome was “not the result of chance, ” pointing to Andorra’s growing international credibility in recent years and sustained relations with the European Union tied to negotiation of an association agreement. Landry Riba emphasized that the agreement “notably increases” rights of movement for Andorrans and residents by removing the need to process permits or submit to the new controls that were foreseen.
The talks between Andorra and Brussels began in September 2024, with the main goal of adapting how the EES would work given the specific realities of Andorra’s land borders. As those negotiations advanced successfully with the European Commission, Andorra also opened parallel talks with Spain and France to settle operational questions connected to border posts.
For travelers, the next phase is defined less by ceremony than by implementation: the agreement’s exemptions, the continued use of random checks, and the administrative clarity needed so that Andorran passports are not mistakenly pulled into EES procedures. The Government of Andorra has said citizens and residents can contact the emergency consular service for incidents connected to travel and border formalities.
At the border itself, the ambition is modest and consequential at once: to keep crossings from becoming systematic checkpoints, while tightening the pre-permit security steps that happen long before anyone reaches a barrier. For Andorra, the agreement is designed to let everyday movement continue—without turning the frontier into a permanent queue.
