E-gates
E-gates
Electronic gates (eGates) are available for European and Italian passengers of at least 12 years of age, but also for holders of electronic passports issued by the following countries:
U.S.A.
United Kingdom (U.K.)
Canada
China
Brazil
Australia
Argentina
South Korea
Japan
Israel
Mexico
Serbia
United Arab Emirates
Taiwan
New Zealand
Singapore
Montenegro
Colombia
Malaysia
Panama
Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM)
U.S.A.
United Kingdom (U.K.)
Canada
China
Brazil
Australia
Argentina
South Korea
Japan
Israel
Mexico
Serbia
United Arab Emirates
Taiwan
New Zealand
Singapore
Montenegro
Colombia
Malaysia
Panama
Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM)
The Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior has authorised the use of electronic gates (eGates) for Italian nationals over the age of 14 who hold an electronic identity card (Carta d’Identità Elettronica - CIE) that is valid for foreign travel and issued after 7 February 2018, when travelling from Italy abroad.
Specifically, the use of the CIEs at electronic gates (eGates) is permitted exclusively to reach the following countries:
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Egypt (tourism travel only)
Georgia
Ireland
Kosovo
North Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Romania
Serbia
Tunisia (tourism travel only)
Turkey
Please note that Italian nationals travelling from Italy abroad who hold a paper identity card or a CIE issued before 7 February 2018 must pass through the manual border control. It should be borne in mind that in order to travel to other countries not included in the above list, Italian citizens must be in possession of an electronic passport issued by the Police Headquarters. This will allow the passenger to cross the border using e-gates.
Finally, Italian nationals arriving in Italy from any country, over the age of 14 and holders of a CIE issued after 7 February 2018, are authorised to use the electronic gates (e-gates).
Specifically, the use of the CIEs at electronic gates (eGates) is permitted exclusively to reach the following countries:
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Egypt (tourism travel only)
Georgia
Ireland
Kosovo
North Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Romania
Serbia
Tunisia (tourism travel only)
Turkey
Please note that Italian nationals travelling from Italy abroad who hold a paper identity card or a CIE issued before 7 February 2018 must pass through the manual border control. It should be borne in mind that in order to travel to other countries not included in the above list, Italian citizens must be in possession of an electronic passport issued by the Police Headquarters. This will allow the passenger to cross the border using e-gates.
Finally, Italian nationals arriving in Italy from any country, over the age of 14 and holders of a CIE issued after 7 February 2018, are authorised to use the electronic gates (e-gates).
Leonardo da Vinci is the first airport in Italy to have installed eGates, which are operated through the effective coordination between ADR (which purchases, installs and maintains the equipment in working order from a technological point of view) and the Italian State Police. Rome’s airports currently feature the largest number of eGates: 89 in total activated in the summer of 2025 by ADR - 77 at Fiumicino and 12 at Ciampino.
What it is:
The eGates are an innovative technology, more and more widespread at the main international hubs, which allows your passport to be checked in a totally automated way. They ensure the highest levels of security controls, and decrease passenger waiting times, benefiting the overall quality of the travel experience.
How they work:
Passengers arrive at the eGates and place their open passport into a scanner, to enter the eGate. A camera then use face recognition by comparing the passenger’s face with the image contained in the passport chip.
If the identification process successfully verifies the passenger’s identity, the gate will open; otherwise, the passenger has to pass through the border control operated by human Border Agents.
From a more technical point of view, passenger data verification and facial recognition are performed instantly, since each machine is directly connected to the Italian government databases.
Within a few seconds, the device carries out a series of checks autonomously to verify the authenticity and integrity of documents, analyses the biometric parameters of the face and fingerprints (only for Italian passengers) and verifies that there are no reasons preventing transit.
If the identification process successfully verifies the passenger’s identity, the gate will open; otherwise, the passenger has to pass through the border control operated by human Border Agents.
From a more technical point of view, passenger data verification and facial recognition are performed instantly, since each machine is directly connected to the Italian government databases.
Within a few seconds, the device carries out a series of checks autonomously to verify the authenticity and integrity of documents, analyses the biometric parameters of the face and fingerprints (only for Italian passengers) and verifies that there are no reasons preventing transit.
Some numbers:
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Leonardo da Vinci is the first Italian airport to install this new method of passport control.
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Since the installation of the first model, in 2014, over 38 million travellers have used the new automated border control systems.
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A single eGate is able to process thousands of passengers per day, at an average speed of about 20 seconds per individual passenger, thus reducing the times compared to traditional passport control by approximately 50%.