The new EU Return Regulation: entry bans up to 10 years, return hubs and what it means for Russians

In brief

• Regulation (EU) 2026/2280 entered into force on 16 October 2026. Some provisions apply at once, including return to third countries under agreements. The bulk of it - entry bans, deadlines, obligations, detention - applies from 16 October 2027.
• A return decision is mandatory for anyone staying illegally in an EU country. The period for voluntary departure is no more than 30 days, and may be "immediately".
• An entry ban is mandatory if the person is removed, did not leave in time or is found to be a security risk. The maximum is 10 years, 20 on substantiated grounds, and longer or indefinite for security threats.
• A European Return Order is introduced - a single decision form entered into the Schengen Information System. Another EU country can enforce the decision without starting the case again.
• If you hold a valid residence permit or D visa from another EU country, no return decision is issued: you are required to go back to the country that issued it. Legal status is the main protection.

What was adopted and when it applies

The European Commission tabled the draft in March 2025. On 1 June 2026 Parliament and the Council agreed on the text, on 1 October the Council adopted the regulation, on 7 October it was signed and on 15 October it was published. It repeals Directive 2008/115/EC, Directive 2001/40/EC on mutual recognition of expulsion decisions and Council Decision 2004/191/EC.

The main difference from the old rules is the form. Each country rewrote the directive into its own law in its own way, so deadlines and bans differed in Germany, Greece and Spain. The regulation applies directly and identically in every country bound by it. National law remains only where the regulation expressly refers to it: for example, which body issues the decision and how it is served.

Application dates are split by Article 50. From 16 October 2026 the provisions on subject matter and scope, the definition of country of return, Article 14 on return to third countries under agreements, the rules on children, readmission and cooperation with third countries apply. Everything else - return decisions, entry bans, obligations, detention, appeals - applies after 12 months, that is from 16 October 2027. Until then countries work under their own laws based on the 2008 directive.

What this means for you. You have a year while the previous, softer rules apply. If your status in the EU is in doubt, sort it out before 16 October 2027, not after the first letter from the immigration service.

The return decision: who gets one and how long they have

Article 5 requires a return decision to be issued to any third-country national staying illegally in an EU country. The regulation reads illegal stay broadly: not only entry without a visa, but also a situation where a person "no longer fulfils" the conditions of entry or residence. An expired visa, exceeding 90 days in 180, a refused permit renewal, a revoked permit - all of these are illegal stay.

The decision must set a voluntary departure period of no more than 30 days or require immediate departure. A country may shorten this period in its law, and if the person does not cooperate, the authorities may shorten it during the case. The period can also be extended - for example if the person joins a return programme or meets the duty to cooperate.

An important detail for permit holders: under Article 5(12) the return decision is issued in the same act as the decision ending legal stay, or straight after it. From 16 October 2027 a refused renewal and an order to leave the EU may arrive in one letter. There will be no time between them to "think about what to do".

What this means for you. A refused renewal is no longer just a refusal but the start of a return procedure. Prepare renewal documents early and without gaps, because a mistake now costs more.

Entry ban: up to 10 years, sometimes 20

Under the old directive an entry ban as a rule did not exceed 5 years. Article 8 of the regulation raises the maximum to 10 years and, on substantiated grounds where needed to prevent re-entry, to 20 years. For people found to be a security threat, Article 13 allows a ban beyond these limits, even an indefinite one.

A ban is mandatory in three cases: the person is removed by force, did not leave by the deadline in the decision, or poses a security risk. In other cases the authorities decide and take into account whether the person cooperated. A ban may be waived on humanitarian grounds, for trafficking victims and for those who cooperate in good faith and leave through a return programme.

There is a provision everyone who has overstayed in Schengen should know. Article 8(4) allows an entry ban without a return decision where illegal stay is detected at exit border checks. The ban can be issued and served after the person has flown out. With the Entry/Exit System, which I covered in the piece on ETIAS and EES at the Schengen border, the border guard sees an overstay automatically.

The ban runs from the date of departure from the EU. It can be lifted or shortened if the person proves they left voluntarily, or on humanitarian grounds. The request can only be made after departure. If the ban exceeds 10 years, a review may be requested 10 years after departure. A country may make lifting the ban conditional on reimbursement of removal costs.

What this means for you. An extra month in Schengen on an expired visa can close the EU to you for years. Leaving on time and on your own is the cheapest way to keep the option of coming back.

The European Return Order and mutual recognition

Within six months, that is by around April 2027, the Commission must adopt the form of the "European Return Order". It will contain the main elements of the return decision and, where relevant, the removal decision. Once it issues a decision, a country must complete the order and make it available through the Schengen Information System.

Article 7 allows the country where a person is staying illegally to recognise and enforce a decision issued by another country on the basis of this order. No separate recognition procedure is needed. For now this is a right, not a duty: after three years the Commission will assess how the system works and may propose making recognition mandatory. If a country does not recognise the decision, it issues its own.

In practice this closes the old pattern of "got a decision in one country, moved to another". Article 19 expressly names a return decision from another EU country, visible through the Schengen system, as a sign of a risk of absconding. And Article 10 makes forced removal mandatory for anyone who moves to another EU country without authorisation, including during the period set for voluntary departure.

What this means for you. A return decision now follows the person across Schengen. Moving to a neighbouring country does not wipe the record; it makes things worse.

Return hubs in third countries

The new definition of country of return in Article 3 includes a third country with which an EU state has an agreement on accepting returnees, even if the person never lived there or passed through it. Article 14 sets the conditions: an agreement may only be concluded with a country that respects international human rights standards and the principle of non-refoulement.

The agreement must set the transfer procedure, the conditions of stay, the obligations of the parties and the consequences of breaches. If onward return home is foreseen, an independent monitoring mechanism is required. Unaccompanied minors may not be sent to such hubs. These provisions apply from 16 October 2026, so EU countries can already negotiate and conclude agreements.

The regulation does not say which countries will host hubs. The text names no specific states, and agreements will be concluded by individual EU countries or the Union as a whole. I would not draw conclusions from rumours about particular locations until the agreements are published.

What this means for you. For a person without status the choice is no longer between "stay" and "go home". They may be sent to a third country where they have neither a home nor family.

Obligations and sanctions

Article 18 for the first time lists the obligations of a person who has received a decision. They must remain available to the authorities, not abscond, including to another EU country, produce a passport or help obtain one, give biometrics, provide an address, phone number and email, disclose their route and countries where they have residence rights, and not destroy documents.

It is stated separately that the person must disclose any residence permits or other rights to stay issued by another EU country or a third country. This is exactly where legal status elsewhere starts working in your favour.

For non-cooperation Article 22 requires at least one control measure: living at a designated address, staying within an area, reporting regularly. A country may also refuse benefits, withdraw a work permit, extend the entry ban to the maximum, impose a fine or a criminal penalty where national law provides for one.

What this means for you. Hiding a passport or giving a false name is now not just a bad idea but a direct ground for a stricter regime and a longer entry ban.

What changed compared with the 2008 directive

I have put the main differences into one table. The left column shows the rules countries apply until 16 October 2027, the right one what comes after.

Detention periods have grown markedly. Under Article 30 the basic maximum is 12 months, up to 24 months in case of non-cooperation or delays in documents from a third country, after which a further extension of up to 6 months is possible where there is a real prospect of removal. For people found to be a security threat a court may extend beyond that, with a review at least every three months.

Article 27 limits the time to appeal to 14 days. Where a country already had 30 days or more, it may keep up to 30. There is no automatic suspension of removal on appeal: the court may suspend it at the person's request. At the applicant's request the state must provide free legal assistance on appeal.

What this means for you. Two weeks to appeal is very little. If you receive a decision, see a lawyer the same day, not after the weekend.

What this means for Russian and other third-country nationals

The regulation does not single out any nationality. But in practice Russians face the most situations where status is easily lost. Fewer Schengen visas are issued, which I covered in detail in the piece on Schengen for Russians until 2027. Some people enter on visas with limited territorial validity - see the article on LTV visas. Permit renewals for Russians in a number of countries are slower and come with more requests.

Let me take four typical situations. First: a Schengen visa, and the person stayed after it expired. From 16 October 2027 such a person gets a return decision with up to 30 days, and if the overstay is found at exit, an entry ban may be served after departure. Second: the permit expired and renewal was not filed or was refused. The return decision will come together with the refusal.

Third: a permit from one EU country, while the person lives for a long time in another. Under Article 6(2) no return decision is issued in this case if the permit, D visa or other right to stay in the first country is valid. The person is required to go back immediately to the country that issued the document. Only if they refuse may the country of stay request cooperation or issue a return decision. Fourth: the person has no valid status anywhere in the EU. Then the whole regulation applies: the deadline, the entry ban and, if needed, forced removal.

A separate note on family members of EU citizens. The regulation does not apply to people enjoying the right of free movement under Union law. If you are the spouse of an EU citizen and live with them in another EU country, your case is governed by other rules.

What this means for you. The decisive question is not which passport you hold but whether you have a valid right to stay in the EU. As long as you do, the regulation hardly applies to you.

Why a residence permit and a second passport matter more than before

A valid residence permit protects directly. It takes you out of "illegal stay", and if there are problems in another EU country it gives you the right to return where you have status instead of removal outside the Union. For an investor the most reliable option is a permit that does not require permanent residence and does not depend on an employer. Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are compared in the review European residence without a stay requirement, and the terms of the Greek programme are on the page Greek residence by investment.

EU long-term resident status protects even better. I described how to obtain it in Cyprus in the piece on EU long-term resident status. The key is not to lose status through missed deadlines: reasons for refused renewals are collected in the reviews of Greek golden visa refusals and Portuguese residence refusals.

A second passport works differently. It does not exempt you from Schengen rules: exceed 90 days and you are in breach, whatever passport you entered on. But under the regulation the country of return may be a third country where the person has the right to enter and reside, and on voluntary departure you may leave for a country other than the one named in the decision without a new decision. Second citizenship gives you a place you go to of your own will and on your own terms. More on this in the piece on a second passport as plan B and on the page Vanuatu citizenship.

Passports with Schengen visa-free access come with their own caveats. The deadline the EU gave five Caribbean countries is in the article on Caribbean visa-free access. And what a second passport changes with banks is in the review second passport and banks.

What this means for you. A residence permit gives the right to stay; a second passport gives the right to leave for a place you chose. Together they cover both risks the regulation increases.

What to do now

1. Check the validity of all documents: visa, residence permit, passport. Write down the expiry dates and the dates by which renewal must be filed.
2. Count your days in Schengen over the last 180 days. The 90/180 rule is explained in the article on the Greek visa and the 90/180 rule.
3. If your permit expires within a year, prepare the renewal file early. A refusal after 16 October 2027 may come together with a return decision.
4. If you live in one EU country while your permit is from another, check whether your status allows this and whether you are breaching renewal conditions.
5. If you have no stable status, choose a legal route now: residence by investment, long-term resident status, second citizenship.
6. If a return decision has already been served, see a lawyer the same day. Under the new rules the appeal period is no more than 14 days.

What this means for you. The year before the main provisions apply is time to be used, not a reason to postpone the question.

My conclusion

Regulation 2026/2280 does not change who has the right to live in the EU. It changes the price of a mistake. Before, an overstayed visa or a missed renewal often ended with a decision no one in another country could see and a ban of a couple of years. Now the decision goes into a shared system, can be enforced in any country, and an entry ban can cover a decade.

For those living in Europe on a valid permit and renewing it on time, nothing dramatic happens. For those relying on visas, gaps in status and the hope that "no one will notice", the window closes by 16 October 2027. My advice is simple: build legal status now and keep a second passport as a fallback. The wider picture of residence programmes is in the review of EU golden visas in autumn 2026.

How this piece was prepared

This piece is based on the text of Regulation (EU) 2026/2280 as agreed by Parliament and the Council - Articles 2, 3, 5-10, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 50 - on the Council announcement of 1 October 2026 and the European Commission announcement on the political agreement of 1 June 2026, and on the text of Directive 2008/115/EC for comparison. The number and date of the regulation and its publication on 15 October 2026 are given according to the Official Journal publication records. National laws specifying the procedure in each country had not been adopted at the date of publication. This is not legal advice on a specific situation.