How the EES failure caught up with Moyes

The EU entry/exit system for UK travellers launched last year, replacing passport stamps with biometrics recorded at border control in Schengen zone countries. But for some passengers, biometrics were collected on arrival in the EU and not on departure, so the system never records that they left. Moyes discovered that her departure from Portugal after a May trip had not been logged.

When she was later detained by French border guards after a holiday and accused of overstaying, she had in fact spent only 23 days in the EU over six months. She told Which? that a senior officer at Marseille told her to stay out of Europe until the matter was resolved.

Unless she does, she risks the two-year ban and a €10,000 (£8,300) fine.

The post-Brexit 90-day rule and other affected travellers

Since Brexit, Britons are entitled to 90 days in any rolling 180-day window in the EU. Anyone deemed to have remained longer than 90 days faces deportation or fines of up to €10,000.

Some travellers have been denied that right because the system falsely states their allowance is used up:

• •Jane Nolan and her husband were prevented from booking a France trip after the EES wrongly showed them as having used up their 90-day travel allowance.
• •Nolan said the couple travelled to France in April by LeShuttle and spent 40 days there, with no subsequent Schengen visits, yet the EU checking tool shows zero days remaining.
• •Their passports were manually stamped returning to the UK in June because French authorities had suspended the EES to avoid long queues.
• •The Telegraph reported a UK holidaymaker detained at the Italian border and deported under police guard after a system error suggested she had overstayed.

That is what Nolan said the checking tool displays, even though the couple should have 50 days left.

Glitches, suspensions and an EU lawsuit

Over the summer, some countries suspended the EES and resorted to manual passport checks, citing technical glitches and staff shortages. On Monday it emerged the EU is suing three firms over the failures.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, called the situation one of the most serious in a long line of European border control failures, and said the lack of care and accountability towards travellers risking lock-ups and fines for rules they have not broken is utterly indefensible.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership, which represents independent travel agents, said this and called for greater accountability and a straightforward process to correct inaccurate records. The body said British travellers were being penalised for a chaotic system.

What travellers can do

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are aware of reports of inaccuracies in some EES records affecting British nationals", including incomplete records and registration of exempt individuals. It is raising the issues with the European Commission, which has been contacted for comment, and advises travellers to carry evidence of when they last left the EU and raise anomalies with border officials.

• •Travellers can check their remaining allowance by typing their passport number into the EES website, which records all visits to the Schengen zone since 10 April 2026.
• •A record correction can be requested before travelling by selecting the last country visited on the Travel to Europe data protection page and contacting the relevant data controller.

Nolan said she and her husband have asked the French authorities to check their records but do not yet know what went wrong or whether it could affect them at the border. Moyes said she has tried every possible avenue in the last two weeks and engaged an immigration lawyer, but has no idea how much time the system thinks she spent in Europe or whether she is safe to travel.