The boss of Eurotunnel has insisted there will not be long queues of cars at its terminals when a new EU travel system starts in October.
Brits heading to and from Europe will need to register fingerprints and a photo at the border, which has prompted warnings of delays.
The BBC quoted the Eurotunnel chief executive Yann Leriche saying that journeys would take five-to-seven minutes longer, but extra lanes and technology mean the process will go smoothly.
At the Port of Dover, Eurostar’s St Pancras terminus and Eurotunnel in Folkestone, French border police check passports as people leave the UK.
The EU’s much-delayed Entry Exit system, or EES, will replace manual passport stamping.
Citizens of countries which are outside the bloc, including the UK, will need to register their biometric information.
There have been repeated warnings of queues as a result, and calls for the EES launch to be pushed back again.
There were hopes that an app being developed by the EU could enable some of the registration to be done from home, but it is not expected to be ready for use in October.
At Eurotunnel’s Folkestone and Calais sites,which operates vehicle and freight shuttles across the Channel Tunnel has been preparing for the new system.
The equivalent of £70m is being spent building processing zones, where people will queue in their cars to use automatic machines.
At the Port of Dover, the plan is slightly different.
Port staff will have iPads for car passengers to register their information.
Coaches will be processed off-site at the Western Docks, with e-gates or kiosks.
Monday marks 30 years since Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterand took part in the Channel Tunnel’s official opening event.
Paying passengers had to wait several months longer to take the journey on Eurostar trains.
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