British author wrongly flagged as EU overstayer during France trip

The case of a British best-selling author who said she was wrongly flagged as an overstayer by French border agents has renewed concerns for travellers about glitches with the new EU border system. 

Novelist Jojo Moyes was told she could face a two-year ban from the EU and a €10,000 fine after being wrongly identified as having overstayed during a recent trip to France.

Ms Moyes, who wrote the New York Times bestseller Me Before You, was stopped by border officers at Marseille airport in October while returning to the UK from a five-day visit to France.

The author insisted, however, that she had spent only 23 days in the Schengen area during the previous six months, well within the 90-day limit.

While speaking to a border officer, she found out that her departure from Portugal following a trip in May had not been recorded in the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES).

As a result, the system had continued to count the days since her arrival in Portugal.

“The clock had been ticking ever since. Under Brexit rules, I was now an overstayer,” she said in an interview with the UK 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 €10,000 fine and a two-year ban.”

The issue of 'overstaying' due to the EU's 90/180 days rule for visa-free Schengen area visits by nationals of certain countries is not new with introduction of the EES – and we have heard of border police giving fines to overstayers prior to its October 2025 launch – but the automated borders system is intended to keep closer track of respect of the rule. 

Ms Moyes, whose novel Me Before You was adapted into a 2016 film and who has also written a short story collection called Paris for One and Other Stories, owns a home in France and already has further European travel planned. 

She said she had spent two weeks trying to resolve the problem with little progress. She contacted several authorities, including French border officials, in an attempt to resolve the error.

“I have now engaged an immigration lawyer, but not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford this remedy,” she said.

“I have no idea how much time they think I have spent in Europe, and no idea whether I am safe to travel.”

In an interview with The Guardian, Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, criticised problems with the current roll-out: “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.”

Not the only one: what to do in such cases

The Entry/Exit System, which replaces traditional passport stamps with digital records alongside biometric information such as fingerprints and facial images, was fully rolled out on April 10, 2026.

However, the system has experienced disruption, with some countries temporarily suspending biometric checks and reverting to manual passport controls during periods of long queues and technical problems.

In September, Paula Pugh was deported from Italy after border officials accused her of overstaying the 90-day limit. The EES had failed to record a previous departure from the Schengen area, despite her having spent only 22 days there during the year, The Telegraph reported.

She was stopped at Reggio Calabria airport on September 6 and sent back to the UK on a flight later that day, which cost her £2,000, in addition to the lost holiday.

The Connexion has also previously received questions from readers concerned that their departures from France had not been properly registered.

In June, one reader who had travelled to Saint-Malo by ferry asked whether they should be worried after leaving France without having their biometrics taken or receiving a passport stamp.

However, the absence of a stamp or biometric collection does not always mean that a departure has not been recorded.

If travellers find themselves in this situation, it is best to check their EES records and keep evidence of their departure.

Such evidence includes flight boarding passes, ferry and Eurotunnel tickets, booking confirmations and passport stamps, where available.

If an exit is missing, they can contact the relevant authorities and request that their information be corrected before their next journey.

For errors involving French records, a letter can be sent to either of the following authorities:

• Direction générale des étrangers en France, Ministère de l’Intérieur, Place Beauvau, 75008 Paris

• Le Délégué ministériel à la protection des données, Ministère de l’Intérieur, Place Beauvau, 75008 Paris

The interior ministry also provides guidance in English on EES personal data.

If the response is not satisfactory, travellers can complain to France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL).

If the error was recorded in another European country, the European Commission has a list of national data protection contacts, where travellers can find the relevant authority.

Requests can be submitted to the authorities of any participating country, with either the state receiving the request or the country responsible for creating the incorrect record able to rectify the error.

There is also an official EES calculator that requires passport details and shows how many days one has left, although it does not include any stay recorded before April 10, 2026.

If you have been affected by an EES error, you can contact us at feedback@connexionfrance.com.