The European Commission says that the EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES), which started rolling out in stages in October, has already identified more than 4,000 visitors who stayed too long in the bloc.
The system has the ability to independently verify compliance with the 90/180-day guideline.
EES records when people from outside the EU enter and exit the Schengen area. Instead of stamping their passports, it makes a digital record that includes biometric data like fingerprints and face scans.
It is meant to find people who remain too long, make security stronger, stop identity theft, and eventually make border inspections go faster.
Commission official Henrik Nielsen told MEPs about the number of people who had overstayed their visas during a meeting of the European Parliament’s human rights committee to talk about the system’s early implementation.
Mr. Nielsen said that in the first four months, the system had already recorded around 17 million travellers, 30 million border crossings, and about 16,000 refusals of entry.
Tillmann Keber, Executive Director of eu-LISA, the EU agency in charge of the EES IT system, said that the first rollout went “very smoothly and successfully at the central level.” He also said that the system is now “fully stabilised” and working regularly.
Phased rollout and problems with running the system
The EES started on October 12th, 2025, but it is being rolled out slowly. Starting on January 9, 2026, at least 35% of eligible non-EU passengers must be registered, up from the current 10%.
As of March 10, half of all non-EU passengers crossing any border have to be registered. This number will grow to 100% on April 10.
Once everything is in place, short-term tourists will no longer get passport stamps.
But the deployment hasn’t gone as planned. Airports in France, especially Charles de Gaulle, have seen delays because of broken kiosks, software bugs, and not enough staff.
In Portugal, Lisbon Airport had to go back to manual stamping for a short time because biometric checks caused a lot of traffic. People who run airports say that processing times at the border can go up by as much as 70% when EES is in use, with waits of up to three hours at the busiest times.
The 90/180-day rule and punishments
The EES’s main job is to make sure that the 90/180-day norm is followed for people who don’t need a visa, such Britons and Americans. The system figures out this rolling restriction on its own by adding up the time spent in all of the Schengen nations.
In France, the charge for overstaying, even by accident, is €198, and it could also hinder future visa applications.
People from outside the EU who have long-term visas or residency permits don’t have to enter the EES, but they may still have to wait in queue at the Schengen borders.
Overstaying can lead to being kicked out or banned for a short time in really bad circumstances, but this is unlikely. There may be exceptions for things that can’t be planned for or that make things easier, such a serious illness.
