EU border control goes biometric. What to know before April 10.

• The European Union is replacing passport stamps with a new biometric screening process.
• The new Entry/Exit System will require travelers to have their picture taken and/or fingerprints scanned.
• This system will make it more difficult for visitors to overstay their time in the EU.

If you're heading to the European Union for spring break or summer vacation this year, get ready for a new screening process at the border. The EU has done away with passport stamps and is now going all-biometric instead.

Starting April 10, all EU border crossings in the Schengen Area will fully switch over to the new Entry/Exit System, which requires border officers to take a picture of a traveler's face and/or scan their fingerprints.

“For stamp collectors, this is slightly disappointing,” Vykintas Maknickas, CEO of Saily, an eSim provider, told USA TODAY. “The EU collects your image, your biometric data like fingerprints and it uses it to basically timestamp how much time you’re in the EU specifically, so it will be way more difficult to overstay, and if you overstay, they will know.”

Maknickas warned that, while the process is likely to be more efficient than getting passport stamps in the long-run, there could be some hiccups in the early days of its full implementation, so you might want to pad your layovers if you can.

“You might need more time, specifically during this period of adaptation," he said. "The season for people traveling to the EU is just starting out, so it’s quite good timing for it to be implemented now instead of the summer when the majority of travelers are traveling to the EU from the U.S.”

Aside from the new biometric entry and exit process, there are no changes to EU visa requirements for U.S. visitors, and a valid passport will still be required for travel.

The new process is also separate from the EU's Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System, which will be implemented in the fourth quarter of this year. That will require U.S.-based and other travelers to the EU to register and receive proof of registry in advance.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York, and you can reach him at [email protected].