- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As adopted by EU)
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/2165 of 9 December 2020 on laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the minimum data quality standards and technical specifications for entering photographs and dactyloscopic data in the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks and return (notified under document C(2020) 8599)
When the UK left the EU, legislation.gov.uk published EU legislation that had been published by the EU up to IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.). On legislation.gov.uk, these items of legislation are kept up-to-date with any amendments made by the UK since then.
Legislation.gov.uk publishes the UK version. EUR-Lex publishes the EU version. The EU Exit Web Archive holds a snapshot of EUR-Lex’s version from IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.).
This version of this Decision was derived from EUR-Lex on IP completion day (31 December 2020 11:00 p.m.). It has not been amended by the UK since then. Find out more about legislation originating from the EU as published on legislation.gov.uk.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.
The following categories of dactyloscopic data may be used in SIS:
flat fingerprints, including flat thumb slaps and flat four-finger slaps;
rolled fingerprints;
palm prints.
Member States may transmit to Central SIS:
data captured using live-scan devices at the national level that are capable of capturing and segmenting up to ten individual fingerprints; rolled, flat or both;
‘inked’ fingerprints and palm prints; rolled, flat or both, which are digitally scanned at the relevant quality and resolution.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System of Central SIS (CS-SIS AFIS), as defined in Article 33(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861, must be compatible and interoperable with the dactyloscopic data formats mentioned under points (a) and (b).
The input format for the transmission of dactyloscopic data (‘dactyloscopic container’) to SIS must be compliant with the SIS NISTstandard based on the ANSI/NIST(1) binary format.
A ‘SIS NIST checker’ will be established at the level of the technical support function of Central SIS (CS-SIS) to check compliance of the transmitted dactyloscopic container with the defined SIS NIST standard.
Dactyloscopic containers that do not comply with the defined SIS NIST standard will be rejected by CS-SIS AFIS and will not be stored in Central SIS. If a non-compliant file is rejected by CS-SIS AFIS, CS-SIS will send an error message to the Member State that has transmitted the data.
Fingerprint and palm print images referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Section 1.1 must be of a nominal resolution of either 1 000 ppi or of 500 ppi with 256 grey levels in order to be processed by CS-SIS. 500 ppi images must be entered using the WSQ format while 1 000 ppi images must be in JPEG2000 (JP2) format.
Dactyloscopic images must comply with the quality thresholds laid down in the SIS Interface Control Document and Detailed Technical Specifications in order to be stored and used in CS-SIS AFIS.
Member States are recommended to check the compliance with the quality thresholds of the dactyloscopic images before transmitting them to CS-SIS.
Compliant dactyloscopic containers that contain dactyloscopic images on fingerprints or palm prints below the quality thresholds will not be stored in CS-SIS AFIS and will not be used for biometric searches. Dactyloscopic containers that contain dactyloscopic images rejected by CS-SIS AFIS may only be used to confirm the identity of a person in accordance with Article 33(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861. CS-SIS will send an error message to the Member State that has transmitted the data when a file has been rejected by CS-SIS AFIS due to the low quality of the images.
CS-SIS AFIS will provide a biometric search functionality for all types of dactyloscopic images satisfying the quality requirements established in Section 1.3.3.
The performance requirements and biometric accuracy for the different categories of biometric searches in CS-SIS AFIS are laid down in the SIS Interface Control Document and Detailed Technical Specifications.
A minimum resolution of 480 × 600 pixels with 24 bits of colour depth must be used when entering photographs in SIS.
American National Standard for Information Systems / National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As adopted by EU): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was first adopted in the EU. No changes have been applied to the text.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different versions taken from EUR-Lex before exit day and during the implementation period as well as any subsequent versions created after the implementation period as a result of changes made by UK legislation.
The dates for the EU versions are taken from the document dates on EUR-Lex and may not always coincide with when the changes came into force for the document.
For any versions created after the implementation period as a result of changes made by UK legislation the date will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. For further information see our guide to revised legislation on Understanding Legislation.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: