Six months of EES: what digital border control means for third-country national crew

On 10 April 2026, the Entry/Exit System (EES) definitively replaced passport stamping at the Schengen external borders. Six months on, it is clear that the system hits the maritime sector harder than many expected. Not because the rules have changed, but because they are now enforced by a computer that forgets nothing. In this article we set out what has happened since April and what it means for shipyards, shipowners and crew managers working with crew from outside the EU.

What the EES does

The EES records every entry and exit of third-country nationals crossing a Schengen external border for a short stay (up to 90 days in any 180-day period). At first registration, passport data, a facial image and fingerprints are recorded. After that, the system automatically calculates at every border crossing how many days the traveller has left. If someone stays longer than allowed, they are automatically added to a list of overstayers, which border, immigration and visa authorities in all 29 countries using the EES can access.

There is no exemption for crew. Seafarers enjoy procedural facilitations at border checks under the Schengen Borders Code, but as a category they simply fall under the EES. That has not changed since April, and no amendment of the regulation that would change it is currently in preparation.

Who falls outside the system

The most important exemption is for holders of a residence permit or a long-stay visa (such as a Dutch MVV). Anyone holding such a document issued by a Schengen country is not registered in the EES in any Schengen country. For crew working in the Netherlands for longer periods, a residence permit is therefore not only a matter of immigration law, but also the most direct way to stay outside the digital regime.

Which residence permit is available depends on the specific situation: the nature of the work, the position of the crew member and the role of the shipyard or shipowner. There are several routes, such as the residence permit for seafarers (schepelingendienst) (in Dutch only), available since 1 April 2026 for seafarers working on board a seagoing vessel in a Dutch seaport for more than 90 days, or a residence permit combined with an UWV route approval (the ITR scheme). Which route fits has to be assessed case by case.

The invisible day count

The biggest practical problem of the first months was the lack of insight. Where the passport used to show a visible record of stamps, the count is now digital and accessible to border police and immigration services. Since this spring, the web service required by the regulation has been available on travel-europe.europa.eu. After entering the Schengen country, the type and number of the travel document and its issuing country, it shows the number of days remaining.

The service is a step forward, but anyone relying on it must know its limits. The calculation is based solely on what has been recorded in the EES. Stays that began before 10 April 2026 are not counted. More importantly, an exit that was not recorded, for example on departure by ship from a port where exit registration was skipped, means the system treats the stay as ongoing. The web service will then show too few remaining days, or even an overstay that does not exist. Such errors have been reported repeatedly since the launch. The service also takes no account of stays based on a residence permit or a pending application, and does not check whether a Schengen visa is still valid. Our advice therefore remains the same: keep track of Schengen days yourself and keep boarding passes and the ship's log as evidence.

The 10-day rule and Italy

There has been much discussion in the sector about the so-called 10-day rule. Newsletters often present this rule as a new EES measure. It is not. The framework in principle comes from the judgment of the Court of Justice of 5 February 2020 (C-341/18): a crew member only gets an exit stamp, and is now only registered as having exited, when the ship's departure is actually imminent. The ten days are the Dutch concretisation of that. Apparently more countries do the same. What is new is that digitalisation removes the informal leeway that port police could previously offer.

How strictly the rule is applied now differs by country. Italy takes a strict view and, where relevant, asks vessels to leave Italian waters within ten days. France and Spain do not follow that line. Industry associations are in talks with the Italian authorities and the European Commission, but there is no harmonised practice yet. Anyone planning crew changes in Italian ports should take this into account.

Waiting times at airports

During the summer season, waiting times of up to five hours were reported at several European airports. For crew changes via airports, this mainly means: build in generous margins.

Consequences of an overstay

A recorded overstay is not an administrative footnote. The EES flags the person at every subsequent entry, a recorded overstay weighs heavily in future visa applications, and serious or repeated overstays can lead to an entry ban for the entire Schengen area. The data are also kept for five years instead of three. On the other hand, the regulation expressly provides for rectification of incorrect records and for a remedy if such a request is refused. Such a request goes to the responsible authority of an EES country, preferably the country of entry or exit. Anyone who provides credible evidence that the overstay was due to unforeseeable circumstances, such as a hospital stay, can be removed from the list. Anyone who finds an incorrect record should therefore act quickly.

Looking ahead: ETIAS

For visa-exempt crew (British, American, Australian nationals) another obligation is coming: the electronic travel authorisation ETIAS. Its introduction, originally planned for the end of 2026, has been postponed to 2027. There is no official date yet. Residence permit holders are also exempt from ETIAS.

Memo for the sector

Maes Law has set out the consequences of the EES for third-country national crew in a memo for shipyards, shipowners and crew managers. The memo covers how the system works, the position of the various categories of crew, the web service and its limits, the 10-day rule, the consequences of an overstay and the residence permit routes that take crew outside the EES. The memo is updated to October 2026 and available in Dutch and English. Contact us for the memo or for advice on a specific situation.

Questions? Contact Elke Lenting or Bart Maes. We are here to help.

Position as at 3 November 2026; this post will be updated as developments occur.