Visas & entry rules

Six mistakes people make with visas and entry rules

Being refused at a border is almost never about suspicion. It is about a document you did not know you needed, or a rule that counts something you did not think was being counted.

Published 29 September 2026.

The TripChecker passport mascot checking a list of documents
1

Checking only the expiry date on your passport

Most people check one thing before a trip: has my passport expired. For the Schengen area that is only half the test, and the half that catches people out is the other one.

Two rules apply at once. Your passport must have a date of issue less than 10 years before the day you arrive, and an expiry date at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave. The issue date rule catches people because of how renewals used to work. As the FCDO puts it, if you renewed your passport before 1 October 2018 it might have a date of issue more than 10 years ago, because unused time from the old passport was carried over onto the new one. A passport issued that way can be more than 10 years old while still showing months of validity on the front.

So a passport that has not expired can still be refused. People are turned away at the gate for this, usually having checked the only date they thought mattered.

Do this: find both dates on the photo page. If the issue date is more than 10 years before your arrival date, or the expiry date is less than 3 months after your return, renew before you book anything else.
2

Confusing EES with ETIAS, or paying for one that does not exist

These are two different systems and only one of them is running.

EES, the Entry/Exit System, has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 across the 29 Schengen countries. It is a biometric border check that replaces passport stamping. You do not apply for it, there is no fee, and nothing is needed before you travel: your photo and fingerprints are taken at the border, and the digital record lasts 3 years. Expect it to add time, particularly on a first crossing.

ETIAS is the one you will apply and pay 20 euros for, and it covers 30 countries because it adds Cyprus. It has not launched. The European Commission has scheduled it for the last quarter of 2026 and says the exact start date will be officially communicated later.

That gap is being exploited. The FCDO puts it plainly: any website selling ETIAS at this time is doing so fraudulently.

Do this: do not buy an ETIAS from anyone. When it launches, apply only through the official EU website or the official EU app. Until then, nothing is required in advance for a Schengen trip.
3

Treating 90 days as an annual allowance

The limit is 90 days in any 180 day period, and the 180 days keep rolling. It is not a yearly budget that resets in January, which is how most people picture it.

Every day in any Schengen country counts towards the same total. Four countries in one trip is still one running tally. Trips you took months ago can still be inside the window, and with EES now replacing passport stamps, the count is automatic rather than dependent on an officer finding your stamps.

Overstaying is not a formality. Exceeding the limit can lead to a ban from Schengen countries of up to 3 years.

Do this: take the date you plan to leave, count back 180 days, add up the days you have already spent in the Schengen area inside that window, add your planned trip, and check the total is 90 or less. Second homes and long weekends count.
4

Not knowing what the border officer can ask you to produce

Visa-free does not mean question-free. The entry conditions include things most travellers never think to carry, and the officer is entitled to ask for evidence of them.

FCDO advice for France lists four: proof of travel insurance to show you can cover emergency costs, proof that you have enough money for your stay, proof of your accommodation, and a return or onward ticket. Other countries word it differently but the substance is common across the Schengen area.

Staying with friends or family can add a step. In France you may be asked for an attestation d'accueil, a formal invitation your host must obtain from their local mayor's office and send to you before you enter the country. That is not something you can arrange at the airport.

Do this: keep your return ticket, accommodation booking and insurance certificate reachable on your phone without a signal. Screenshot them, do not rely on an inbox loading at a land border.
5

Assuming the rules for Europe are one set of rules

Europe, the EU and the Schengen area are three different things, and the gaps between them are exactly where people get caught.

Ireland is in the EU but not in Schengen, and Schengen rules do not apply to travel there under the Common Travel Area. Cyprus is in the EU and outside Schengen, so EES does not apply and its 90 day allowance is entirely separate from your Schengen total, but ETIAS will cover it when it launches. Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are not in the EU but are in Schengen, so your Schengen days do count there.

This is why a single confident sentence about travelling to Europe is almost always wrong for at least one country, and why it is worth checking the actual destination rather than the continent.

Do this: check entry requirements per country on FCDO travel advice, not by analogy with the last place you went.
6

Forgetting that transit is entry

Changing planes is not automatically a neutral act. Depending on the airport and the route, passing through can mean legally entering the country, which means meeting its entry rules with whatever documents that requires.

The same applies to the small print of a journey rather than a destination: temporary land border controls can appear at short notice inside the Schengen area, as they currently have for travel into Germany, and cruise itineraries have their own treatment under EES depending on where the sailing starts and whether you leave the ship.

None of this is exotic. It is simply that the rules attach to the journey, not the holiday.

Do this: check the entry requirements for every country you touch, including ones you only change planes in, and check them again close to departure rather than at booking.
The short version. Check both passport dates, not just the expiry. Do not pay anyone for an ETIAS, because it does not exist yet. Count your Schengen days on a rolling 180 day window. Carry proof of insurance, funds, accommodation and onward travel. And check the country you are going to rather than the continent. For the rules that apply to your passport and your destination specifically, Border Checker is the app we are building for exactly that. See also the six mistakes people make with travel health.

Sources

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