Eurodac

Supporting the EU’s Migration and Asylum Policies

Eurodac is the European Union's asylum and migration database.

The New Eurodac

Originally established to compare fingerprints for asylum procedures, Eurodac has been comprehensively recast under Regulation (EU) 2024/1358, transforming into a full asylum and migration management system, and a cornerstone for the implementation of the European Union's Pact on Asylum and Migration.

Who is registered in Eurodac?

Asylum
applicants

All persons applying for international protection in the EU.

Irregular border crossers

Including those disembarked after search & rescue operations.

Persons found irregularly staying

Apprehended inside EU territory without valid status.

Temporary protection beneficiaries

In the event of a mass influx of displaced persons.

Resettlement
cases

EU and national resettlement schemes.

From
age 6

Biometric collection mandatory for all aged 6 and over.

Key Upgrades for Eurodac

Counting applicants

The new Eurodac will make it possible to count not only applications, but also applicants.

Extended data collection

The type of data registered in the system will expand to include not only fingerprints, but also facial image, identity data, copies of travel documents.

Protects vulnerable persons

The system will allow authorities to identify children in case they get separated from their families, and help protect those vulnerable from human trafficking and exploitation.

Data stored in Eurodac

Fingerprints Facial images Full name • Date of birth Nationality Travel document Security Flags

With the expansion of the number of circumstances leading to a registration in Eurodac will also come new data fields to be stored in the system depending on the particular circumstance. In addition, the number of identity fields for the person will expand to now also include for instance names and date of birth.

Connected to the EU Interoperability architecture

VIS ^⟷ EURODAC ^⟷ ETIAS

Eurodac is fully integrated within the Interoperability framework. It will make use of the interoperability components and will also be available for automated queries from the ETIAS and VIS.

Who has access to Eurodac

To get in the direct contact with the national authorities that operate data in Eurodac, please consult the latest list of designated authorities:

Eurodac - List of designated authorities 2026

File type and size: pdf, 1.17 MB

Key Features

Eurodac stores and compares fingerprints of asylum seekers to determine the Member State responsible for an application under the Dublin Regulation, and supports law enforcement access for serious crime and terrorism investigations.

The EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum, which entered into force in June 2024, introduced comprehensive reforms to the EU's migration and asylum policies - and a key component of the pact is the modernisation of Eurodac.

Under the Recast Regulation, Eurodac becomes a comprehensive migration database. Key changes include:

expanded categories of persons registered (including those found irregularly staying, beneficiaries of temporary protection, and those subject to resettlement);
new data types (facial images, names, nationalities, travel document information);
mandatory biometric data collection from age 6;
security flags for persons linked to terrorism or serious crime;
restructured data retention periods.

Did You Know?

Eurodac...

... is the acronym for European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database;
... has been operational since 2003 and managed by eu-LISA since 2013;
... is used by 31 countries (27 EU Member States and 4 Schengen Area Associated Countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), as well as EU law enforcement agency Europol;
... currently stores over 7.6 million fingerprint records and can process up to 24,000 transactions daily.