What to do if your EES record is wrong

Ask for the record to be corrected under Article 52 of the EES Regulation, and send evidence of what really happened, such as boarding passes and proof you were outside the Schengen area. You can ask the responsible authority of any country that uses the EES, and it must reply within 45 days. If you're stopped before it's fixed, the law lets you rebut a presumed overstay with credible evidence "by any means". If the authority refuses or doesn't answer, the national data protection authority must help you on request, and you can go to court.

Spotting a mistake

The usual first sign is the EU's "Check how long you can stay" tool showing fewer days left than you expect, or NOT OK when you think you're within the rule. Before you blame the record, check your own: a trip you forgot to log gives the same result. Remember too that the tool leaves out any visit that began before 10 April 2026, which makes its figure higher, not lower.

The errors that matter most

• A missing exit. If there's no exit after your allowed stay ended, the authorities "may presume" you overstayed (Schengen Borders Code, Article 12). Records with no exit are also kept for 5 years from the end of your allowed stay, instead of the usual 3 years.
• A wrong date or place on an entry or exit, which moves days in or out of your 180-day window.
• A stay recorded that shouldn't count, for example while you held a residence permit or long-stay visa. The presumption of overstay doesn't apply if you can show credible evidence that you held one.

Correction and erasure: what the law says

• Under Article 52, if data are "factually inaccurate, incomplete or have been recorded unlawfully", the authority must correct, complete or erase them and confirm this to you in writing without delay. If it disagrees, it must explain why in a written decision and tell you how to challenge it.
• Under Article 35(5), someone on the overstayer list must be taken off it, and the record corrected, if they show they were forced to stay longer by unforeseeable and serious events, have gained a legal right to stay, or in case of errors. The EU's EES site gives hospitalization after a serious injury as an example.
• Under Article 20, when a presumed overstay is rebutted, the authorities create your file if needed, add the missing data to your latest entry or exit record, or erase the file where the Regulation allows it.

Our guide on requesting your EES record covers who to write to and what to put in the letter.

Gathering your evidence

The law names two kinds of evidence: "transport tickets" and "proof of presence outside the territory" of the member states. Beyond that, it's up to the officials to weigh what you show them. The strongest records are made by someone else, at the time:

• Boarding passes, e-tickets and airline confirmations with your name, the date and the flight number.
• Proof you were outside the area: hotel bills, card payments and receipts abroad, or another country's entry stamp or record.
• Passports stamped before 10 April 2026. Keep them.
• Your own log, made at the time, which ties everything together but isn't proof on its own.

At the border

Until the record is fixed, carry printed copies of your evidence for the disputed dates, and a copy of any correction request with proof of when it was sent. You have the right to ask passport control officers how long you can still stay. If you show credible evidence that you kept to the rule, the authorities record the date and place you really crossed the border. If you can't, you may be returned under EU rules, so don't rely on explaining it on the day.

How MyTravelStatus flags a likely cause

On the Plus and Pro plans, you record what the EU tool showed on the EES check page and we compare it with your log for that date. If the figures differ, we test simple explanations and show only those that give exactly the EU's figure, simplest first, up to ten:

1. The EES may only count your days from 10 April 2026 or 12 October 2025, or may not count a stay you entered before one of those dates.
2. The EES may count days we don't: days under your residence permit or long-stay visa, or days in Andorra, Cyprus or Ireland.
3. A missing exit. For each stay you entered on or after 12 October 2025 and left before the check date, we assume the exit wasn't recorded and count every day from then to the check date. If that gives the EU's figure, we say "EES may be missing your exit" on that date, at the crossing point if you logged one.
4. A stay the EES may have no record of.
5. Days missing from your own log.

Each is worded as something that "would explain the difference", never as a finding. Only the authority's copy of your record can confirm it. If you pick a missing exit, the Article 52 letter we draft lists that exit as the disputed record.

If you get no answer

If 45 days pass without a reply, or the authority refuses, contact the data protection authority of that country, whose details are on the EU's EES contact page. It must help and advise you on request. You also have the right to bring an action or complaint before that country's authorities or courts, including when a request wasn't answered in time. Complaints about EU agencies go to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Keep your own record so you can spot a mistake early. Enter your trips in our Schengen calculator, or create a free account to keep a dated log. For background, see our EES guide.

Not legal advice. This guide explains the published rules as we understand them on the date above. Rules and how they're applied change, and border officers make the final decision. Check the official sources below, and get professional advice for your own situation.