Brits Risk Being Banned from Europe Without Proof of Last Holiday – Fines Up to £8,550 Await!

SINCE the introduction of EES, there have been reports of huge delays, missed flights – and now a new problem has arisen.

It appears that Brits aren’t being correctly recorded as leaving the , meaning they could be banned from entering the EU again and face a hefty fine.

has altered the advice to Brits asking them to carry evidence of when they last left the EU, to avoid being wrongly refused entry.

Brits travelling from the UK to Europe can spend 90 days out of every 180 in the EU – staying over this limit will mean both refusal of entry and a fine.

In some cases a fine can be as much as £8,550.

Before the introduction of , Brits would be stamped in and out by officials at passport control.

Now Brits are being electronically recorded as leaving – but in some cases where EES has been suspended due to , they aren’t.

Without being officially noted as returning home, the clock continues to count down which could cause problems when attempting to re-enter the EU.

Advice from the Foreign, & Development Office (FCDO) reads: “If you believe you have been incorrectly entered into EES or your record of time spent in the Schengen area is incorrect, approach border officials when you next cross the Schengen border and request a correction.

“If you are exempt, carry documentation confirming your status. If you believe your time spent in the Schengen area has been recorded incorrectly, raise this with border officials and be prepared to provide supporting evidence if requested.”

It doesn’t explain what ‘evidence’ is needed but it’s likely to be confirmation of flights out of the country.

Some Brits who have either not been stamped out physically, or electronically by EES have revealed their issues in returning to the .

Talking to The Guardian , Martin Farrall didn’t have his exit recorded for the Schengen zone.

Martin and his wife arrived by ferry at Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.

He said that Dutch border officials enrolled them into EES, but that they had no entry stamp on their .

Then 55 days later when he returned to the UK via France, they were not given an exit stamp.

Back at home, Martin checked how many days he had left to travel through the Schengen – and it’s continuing to count down. Meanwhile his wife still has 90 days despite both having travelled the same route.

In another case, from back in April had two entry stamps, but no exit stamps.

They told local media : “On my last two occasions visiting Ibiza on direct UK flights, my UK passport has not been exit-stamped by Spanish authorities upon leaving Ibiza back to the UK.

“I now have two ‘un-closed’ Spanish visits in my UK passport, making a nonsense of the 90-day rule, and running the risk of me being accused of overstaying my rolling 90 days’ allowance. Which I haven’t.”

Travel Reporter was travelling with a group when it happened to one of her companions due to an EES error.

Alice explained: “My friend was stopped at border control in because her documents said she hadn’t left Italy.

“She had completed EES registration while in Rome a few weeks earlier, but it turns out she had not been correctly checked out of the country.

“After a lot of back and forth with the border officers and around 30-minutes of talking to them about how long she was in Rome for, it was recognised as an EES error, and she was let into the country.”

For more advice on travelling as a family and the new EES system, head .