Parafe

Parafe gates are automated self-service barriers operated by the Direction centrale de la police aux frontières and located at immigration checkpoints in arrival halls in Paris and Marseille Airports, offering an alternative to using desks staffed by immigration officers. The gates use Fingerprint technology to verify the user's identity against the data stored in the chip in their biometric passport.

Eligibility

At present, French citizens, European Economic Area and Swiss citizens can use the Parafe gates, provided that they are aged either 18 and over and holding valid and registered biometric passports. French passport holders are pre-registerd.^[1]

At present, European Economic Area and Swiss citizens are required to register at:

Charles de Gaulle Airport - Terminal 1: Departures level by gate 24
Charles de Gaulle Airport - Terminal 2E: Departures level – by gate 10
Paris Orly Airport - Departures level – Boarding Area A

Registration is valid for 5 years, or to the expiry of the passport.

How does it work

To use the Parafe gates, you must have a ‘chipped’ biometric French, EU, EEA or Swiss passport. These Passports have the biometric logo on the front cover. The Parafe gate reads all the information contained in the chip inside the passport, while the fingerprints are verified against those registered.^[2]