Orders to leave the EU rose 64% for Britons in 2025: what the figures show

What happened

EU countries ordered 2,350 Americans and 1,750 Britons to leave in 2025, up 84% and 64% on the year before, according to Eurostat figures analysed by SchengenVisaInfo. Orders to Japanese, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South Korean citizens rose even faster. Across the seven nationalities, the total reached 6,095, up from 3,165 in 2024.

That is far quicker than the EU as a whole. The total number of orders across the EU rose only 4.7% in 2025, to 486,705. SchengenVisaInfo also notes that part of the jump is a rebound: orders to these nationalities fell after the pandemic and hit a low in 2024, and the 2,350 for Americans was still slightly below the 2,505 recorded in 2019.

One country accounts for most of it. The Netherlands ordered 3,555 citizens of these seven countries to leave in 2025, more than every other EU country combined. It issued 1,355 orders to Americans, almost three times its 2024 figure, and nearly half of those to Britons. Of the 31,230 people the Netherlands ordered to leave, Britons ranked tenth, with 825.

What it means if you count your days

These seven nationalities can visit the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. An order to leave, called a return decision in EU law, means a national authority has found that someone is staying in the country illegally and must go.

It is important not to over-read the numbers. Eurostat does not record why each order was issued, so the figures cannot show whether these people overstayed the 90-day limit, worked without a permit or had a residence application refused. Dutch authorities have not published a breakdown. The data is not a count of day-limit overstays.

An order to leave is also a decision, not a deportation. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee says a return decision requires the person to leave the Netherlands and the wider EU, EEA and Switzerland within a set period, usually 28 days. That period can be zero, and in that case the Marechaussee says the person "usually" also receives an entry ban. An entry ban is recorded in the Schengen Information System and can show up the next time the person crosses a Schengen border or applies for a visa.

Where Staymark fits

Staymark counts one trip log three ways: Schengen 90/180, the UK Statutory Residence Test and US substantial presence. You enter your trips once, and the same log gives you the Schengen count alongside the other two.

Staymark counts days and gives no tax, immigration or legal guidance. It cannot tell you whether you will be allowed to enter or stay anywhere, and it cannot tell you what any official decision will be. What it can do is give you a count from your own trip log to check against the rules.