1. In the cases referred to in Article 5, the screening shall be conducted at any adequate and appropriate location designated by each Member State, generally situated at or in proximity to the external borders or, alternatively, in other locations within its territory.
2. In the cases referred to in Article 7, the screening shall be conducted at any adequate and appropriate location designated by each Member State within the territory of a Member State.
3. In the cases referred to in Article 5 of this Regulation, the screening shall be carried out without delay and in any case be completed within seven days from the apprehension in the external border area, the disembarkation in the territory of the Member State concerned or the presentation at the border crossing point. With regard to persons referred to in Article 5(1), point (a), of this Regulation to whom Article 22(1) and (4) of applies, where those persons remain physically at the external border for more than 72 hours, the screening of them shall be carried out thereafter and the period for the screening shall be reduced to four days.
4. The screening referred to in Article 7 shall be carried out without delay and be completed within three days from apprehension of the third-country national.
5. The screening shall comprise the following elements:
(a) a preliminary health check in accordance with Article 12;
(b) a preliminary vulnerability check in accordance with Article 12;
(c) identification or verification of identity in accordance with Article 14;
(d) the registration of biometric data in accordance with Articles 15, 22, 23 and 24 of , to the extent that it has not yet occurred;
(e) a security check in accordance with Articles 15 and 16;
(f) the filling out of a screening form in accordance with Article 17;
(g) referral to the appropriate procedure in accordance with Article 18.
6. Organisations and persons providing advice and counselling shall have effective access to third-country nationals during the screening. Member States may impose limits to such access by virtue of national law where such limits are objectively necessary for the security, public order or administrative management of a border crossing point or of a facility where the screening is carried out, provided that such access is not severely restricted or rendered impossible.
7. The relevant rules on detention set out in shall apply during the screening in respect of third-country nationals who have not made an application for international protection.
8. Member States shall ensure that all persons subject to the screening are accorded a standard of living which guarantees their subsistence, protects their physical and mental health and respects their rights under .
9. Member States shall designate screening authorities and ensure that the staff of those authorities who carry out the screening have the appropriate knowledge and have received the necessary training in accordance with Article 16 of .
Member States shall ensure that qualified medical personnel carry out the preliminary health check provided for in Article 12 and that specialised personnel of the screening authorities trained for that purpose carry out the preliminary vulnerability check provided for in that Article. National child protection authorities and national authorities in charge of detecting and identifying victims of trafficking in human beings or equivalent mechanisms shall also be involved in those checks, where appropriate.
Member States shall also ensure that only duly authorised staff of the screening authorities responsible for the identification or verification of identity and the security check have access to the data, systems and databases referred to in Articles 14 and 15.
Member States shall deploy appropriate staff and sufficient resources to carry out the screening in an efficient way.
The screening authorities may be assisted or supported in the performance of the screening by experts or liaison officers and teams deployed by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Union Agency for Asylum within the limits of their mandates, provided that such experts or liaison officers and teams have the relevant training as referred to in the first and second subparagraphs.