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Europe’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is mistakenly identifying some tourists as having breached the rules for staying in the Schengen Area. Exit records are missing from the database, meaning days continue to accumulate even after travelers have returned home. The British consumer organization Which? has received dozens of complaints about electronic border control failures that could expose foreign visitors to fines and entry bans.

Departures from the Schengen Area Go Unrecorded

In October, British novelist Jojo Moyes encountered the problem at Marseille Airport as she was returning home after a five-day trip to France. Border officers told her she had exceeded the permitted length of stay. In fact, Moyes had spent just 23 days in the Schengen Area over the preceding six months, well below the 90-day limit.

It emerged that the EES had failed to register her departure from Portugal in May. According to the database, her trip had continued for months, even though she had long since left the country. A French border officer warned that returning before the error was corrected could result in a fine of up to €10,000 and a two-year entry ban. This was a warning given in an individual case, not a uniform penalty applicable across all Schengen countries.

Other complaints describe similar malfunctions in electronic border controls. The system failed to record an elderly British couple’s departure from Bilbao Airport, after which their remaining permitted days continued to decrease. Another traveler reported a two-hour check at the Serbia–Romania border because the EES had no record of his entry via the Channel Tunnel. At Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, one passenger was told that automated gates had rejected him because multiple records had been created for him in the system.

The Guardian also reported a case of incorrect stay-day calculations. Jane Nolan and her husband spent 40 days in France and did not visit the Schengen Area again after returning to the UK. Yet an online check indicated that their entire 90-day allowance had been used up. When they left in June, their passports were stamped manually because electronic checks had been suspended. The couple contacted French authorities, but the reason for the miscalculation remained unknown at the time of publication.

Why the System Is Experiencing Failures

The European Entry/Exit System (EES) was designed to automatically record trips by non-EU nationals visiting for short stays. It stores passport and biometric data, along with the dates when travelers cross the external borders of 29 European countries. Its phased rollout began on October 12, 2025, and it became fully operational on April 10, 2026, replacing passport stamping.

One of the EES’s purposes is to identify visitors who breach the rule allowing a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period. The rule applies to short visits to the Schengen Area, subject to the traveler’s visa status. But an error in an exit record can distort the entire calculation: the person is already outside the zone, while the electronic counter continues to register their stay.

The EES rollout over the summer was accompanied by airport queues and technical problems. To reduce delays, some border crossing points were temporarily allowed to revert to the previous document-checking procedure. Which? suggests that discrepancies may have arisen when information was exchanged between different recording procedures or uploaded later to the database. This remains a hypothesis: the European Commission has not confirmed the exact cause of the missing records.

The Risks of Incorrect Records

An inaccurate record may only come to light when a traveler next crosses the border. They then have to prove that they did not overstay, sometimes just before a flight or at passport control. Depending on the circumstances and the laws of the country concerned, they could face lengthy checks, refusal of entry, a fine or a ban on future visits.

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that it is aware of inaccuracies in EES data, including incomplete entries and the registration of people who should not be covered by the system at all. It is discussing these problems with the European Commission and advises travelers to carry evidence of their previous departure. Tourism industry representatives are calling for a clear process to correct records, as passengers are bearing the consequences of technical errors.

The problem is not limited to British citizens. The EES applies to most non-EU nationals entering for short stays, whether they need a visa or are traveling visa-free. Exemptions apply to some categories, including holders of certain residence permits and long-stay visas. The reported cases do not establish that all travelers are affected or that everyone faces the same penalties.

How to Check EES Data and Correct an Error

Before a new trip, travelers can check their permitted length of stay on the EU’s official portal. The “Check how long you can stay” tool asks for the type and number of the travel document, the country that issued it, and the destination country. Planned entry and exit dates can also be entered. The service returns an “OK” or “Not OK” result and the number of remaining days, but it does not provide a complete history of border crossings.

If the number of days does not match actual travel or the system indicates incomplete data, the traveler should request a review of the record. The EU portal provides contact details for national authorities responsible for EES data corrections. The inquiry should be directed to the competent authority in the country where the most recent entry or exit took place, or where the error is believed to have occurred. The request should describe the itinerary, border-crossing dates and the discrepancy identified.

It is advisable to retain boarding passes, electronic plane, train and bus tickets, payment records for trips and other evidence of time spent outside the Schengen Area. An authority may request a passport copy and additional documents. For example, while reviewing Moyes’s case, the Portuguese authorities asked for a legally certified copy of her passport, even though Which? had already provided confirmation of her departure from the police. This requirement should not be assumed to apply in every country.

It is better to check the calculation in advance rather than wait until passport control, as correcting an electronic record may take time. Until discrepancies are resolved, travelers should keep documents confirming their actual travel dates readily available and present them to border officers if necessary.

Outlook for Tourism in Europe

The phased introduction of the EES began on October 12, 2025, and the system officially became fully operational on April 10, 2026. But the transition has been difficult: long queues formed at European airports’ border checkpoints, and passengers missed flights and connections. During the summer, waiting times at some airports reached five hours. Industry representatives cited technical faults, insufficient automation and staffing shortages among the causes of delays.

Electronic recording of border crossings is expected to speed up border procedures and reduce manual checks once the system has been refined. For now, however, its introduction is creating additional difficulties: incorrect entry and exit records have been added to queues and delays. Reactions to the new system remain largely critical among passengers and tourism industry representatives.

Analysts at International Investment note that foreign visitors are being forced to prove that they have complied with the rules even when the system itself is at fault. As correcting records currently involves separate requests to national authorities, there remains a risk of delays and disrupted trips. European authorities need a quick, transparent procedure for dealing with such cases; otherwise, confidence in electronic border control will continue to decline.