Europe’s new entry system is shambolic – and it could see you mistakenly deported

OpinionThe TripologistSeptember 28, 2026 — 5:00amSeptember 28, 2026 — 5:00amBritish woman Paula Pugh got a nasty shock when she flew into southern Italy’s Reggio Calabria to celebrate her husband’s 60th birthday. When she passed through passport control, Italian officials accused her of overstaying the 90-day limit in a 180-day period that British (and Australian) tourists are allowed to spend in Europe’s Schengen Area – but it was a mistake.Europe’s new digital entry system has been plagued by problems.Getty ImagesAs reported in London’s Telegraph, “the EU Entry-Exit System (EES) database had failed to record a previous exit from the [Schengen] zone”. Even though she was arriving on a Ryanair flight from London’s Stansted Airport, it appeared that she’d been in the Schengen Area continuously since her previous visit, thereby committing an overstay offence. She was interrogated, taken to another airport for a flight back to the UK in a police vehicle, marched through the terminal by police and, once on board the aircraft, her passport was confiscated and held by the captain for the duration of the flight.What is the EU’s EES?The EES has changed how Australian passport holders enter the Schengen Area, which covers most of continental Europe. The EES is a digital system that records biometric information and entry and exit dates for non-EU visitors on short stays within the area. It replaces the time-honoured passport stamp. When a non-EU visitor first enters the area, their fingerprints and facial scan are recorded at self-service terminals and stored in a database. On subsequent visits, when they enter or exit the area, their passport will be scanned, their data will be retrieved, and they will pass through an electronic gate without human intervention.While the EES was supposed to be fully operational at all external borders of Schengen Area countries by April 10 this year, it didn’t happen. The rollout of terminals failed to meet demand, software glitches derailed biometric scans and fingerprint registration proved problematic for some passengers, causing long queues.Sign up for the Traveller newsletterThe latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.Faced with mounting problems and airport delays, EU authorities allowed their frustrated airport counterparts to revert to manual processing. Arriving at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on May 14, I passed banks of EES kiosks that had been roped off. Instead of entering Italy with a passport scan and an electronic gate, we were directed to an immigration official who stamped my passport after a cursory glance.Possible penalties include a fine, a note in your passport or on a digital file, an entry ban and deportation. At the very least you’ll be taken aside and questioned.As temperatures warmed and passenger numbers swelled at major hubs across Europe, the system buckled. The International Air Transport Association warned travellers that wait times at European airports could stretch to six hours. Officials issued advice to international arrivals to bring food and water while waiting in line, and some missed their connecting flights.In response, the European Commission (EC) introduced emergency flexibility measures, allowing individual member states to pause biometric checks during peak visitor arrivals. Those measures were set to end on September 6, but as the date approached, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland were given informal approval to suspend EES processing, with no new deadline. Airline industry representatives joined forces with major travel trade organisations to pressure the EC to maintain the partial suspension of the EES until the end of the northern winter.Although the EES failures attracted huge media attention – bolstered by images of crying children in huge queues, and tales of woe – the worst scenarios happened in major hubs at peak arrival times. Compared with the millions of non-EU nationals expected to enter the Schengen Area over the northern summer, the number affected was relatively small. Fiumicino Airport’s chief aviation officer reported average border-processing time had risen from about seven minutes to about 20 minutes since the implementation of EES processing.However, another facet of European travel that affects all Australian travellers is the 90/180-day rule, and it’s often misunderstood.How the 90/180-day rule worksUnder this rule, Australian travellers can remain in Europe’s Schengen Area for up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period.Say you enter a Schengen Area country on November 1 and stay until November 20. You’ve now used 20 of the 90 days in the 180-day period that you’re allowed to spend in any Schengen zone country. Therefore, you have another 70 days to spend in the zone within the 180-day reference period, which would take you up to April 30, 2027.But, according to the European Commission’s own guidance, an uninterrupted 90-day absence from the zone allows a new stay of up to 90 days. In the case above, if you do not re-enter the Schengen zone between November 20 and February 18, you would be able to enter the zone on February 19 and stay for up to 90 days in the next 180-day period.The key to understanding how this works is the concept of a rolling 180-day look-back window that gets recalculated every single day. Imagine a 180-day measuring tape that slides along behind you, day by day. Every single day, ask the question: “How many days in the past 180 days did I spend inside the Schengen zone?” The total can never rise above 90. As each day passes, the oldest days fall outside the 180-day window. Your “used” days spent in the Schengen Area don’t vanish all at once on some fixed date, each day expires after exactly 180 days.You can safely ignore the mechanics. To calculate the number of days you can stay in the Schengen Area, taking into account any previous visits, the European Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs Department has a handy Short Stay Calculator.The digital record of travel captured by the EES was intended to underpin the 90/180-day rule, speeding border checks and detecting overstays. So far, it’s delivered long queues, slower border processing and, in Paula Pugh’s case, a wrongful accusation that cost her a holiday. The safety net of a stamped passport has gone, so do the maths yourself with the European Commission’s Short Stay Calculator, and keep boarding passes and booking confirmations for every entry and exit. If the system gets it wrong, that paper trail is your best defence.What happens if I stay longer than 90 days?That’s an overstay, and the possible penalties include a fine, a note in your passport or on a digital file, an entry ban and deportation. At the very least, you’ll be taken aside and questioned. The penalty also depends on the length of the overstay, the reasons and where it happens. Border officials have some discretion, and genuinely extenuating circumstances such as illness, a natural disaster or a flight cancellation backed up by documentation can sometimes moderate the outcome, but no guarantees.More:TripologistOpinionFor subscribersTravel tipsEuropeMichael Gebicki is a Sydney-based travel writer, best known for his Tripologist column published for more than 15 years in Traveller. With four decades of experience, his specialty is practical advice, destination insights and problem-solving for travellers. He also designs and leads slow, immersive tours to some of his favourite places. Connect via Instagram @michael_gebickiConnect via email.From our partners