The writer Jojo Moyes is facing a two-year EU travel ban and €۱۰,۰۰۰ (£۸,۳۰۰) fine because of glitches with the bloc’s digital security controls.
She is one of a number of UK travellers who say their trips to the EU have not been properly recorded since the introduction of the EU digital entry and exit system (EES).
The system, which launched last year, has replaced passport stamps with biometrics recorded at border control in Schengen zone countries.
However, the botched rollout has led to some Britons being denied their post-Brexit right to spend ۹۰ days out of ۱۸۰ in Europe because the system falsely states they have used up their allowance.
Moyes, a bestselling novelist, was detained by French border guards after a holiday and accused of overstaying. She had spent only ۲۳ days in the EU over six months.
She discovered that her departure from Portugal after a trip in May had not been logged on the system.
“The clock had been ticking ever since,” she told the consumer organisation Which? “The border control senior officer at Marseille warned me that I should not attempt to re-enter Europe until it is sorted out, or face a €۱۰,۰۰۰ fine and a two-year ban.”
Over the summer, some countries suspended the EES and resorted to manual passport checks due to technical glitches and staff shortages. On Monday, it emerged that the EU is suing three firms over the failures.
The problem affects passengers whose biometrics were collected on their arrival in the EU, but not on their departure. In some cases, this means the system has failed to record that they have left.
The rolling ۱۸۰-day window starts as soon as they enter the EU and, since Brexit, those who are deemed to have remained for more than ۹۰ days face deportation or fines of up to €۱۰,۰۰۰.
Jane Nolan and her husband discovered that the EES wrongly showed them as having used up their ۹۰-day travel allowance, preventing them from booking a trip to France. “We travelled to France in April by LeShuttle and spent ۴۰ days there,” she said. “We have made no subsequent Schengen visits.
“We should have ۵۰ days remaining, but the EU’s ‘check how long you can stay’ tool says: ‘Authorised stay: not OK,’ and zero remaining days. It does not show us which entry or exit record produced that result.”
The couple’s passports were manually stamped on their return to the UK in June as French authorities had suspended the EES to prevent long queues.
“We have asked the French authorities to check our records, but do not yet know what has gone wrong or whether the result could affect us at the border,” said Nolan.
In a case reported by the Telegraph a holidaymaker from the UK was detained at the Italian border and deported under police guard after a system error suggested she had overstayed in the EU.
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel described the situation as unacceptable.
“This is one of the most serious in a long line of European border control failures,” he said. “The lack of care and accountability shown towards travellers, who risk being locked up and fines of thousands of pounds for rules they have not broken, is utterly indefensible.”
The Advantage Travel Partnership, which represents independent travel agents, said British travellers were being penalised for a chaotic system.
Its CEO, Julia Lo Bue-Said, said: “Travellers should not be penalised for failures in a system that is entirely outside their control. There needs to be greater accountability, alongside a straightforward process to challenge and correct inaccurate records.”
The Foreign Office said the problem was concerning. A spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of inaccuracies in some EES records affecting British nationals, including incomplete records and the registration of some individuals who are exempt from EES. We are raising these issues as part of our engagement with the European Commission.”
It advised travellers to carry evidence of when they last left the EU and to raise any anomalies with border officials.
Travellers can check how many days of their allowance they have left by typing their passport number into the EES website. This records all visits to the Schengen zone since ۱۰ April ۲۰۲۶.
If there is an unexpected shortfall, they can ask to have their record corrected before travelling by selecting the last country they visited on the Travel to Europe data protection page and contacting the relevant data controller.
Moyes said her efforts to do this have so far been in vain.
“In the last two weeks, I’ve tried every possible avenue,” she said. “I have now engaged an immigration lawyer, but not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford this remedy. I have no idea how much time they think I have spent in Europe, and no idea whether I am safe to travel.”
The European Commission has been contacted for a comment.
