Europe’s 90 Day Schengen Rule
It astounds me how very few people know about Europe’s 90 Day Schengen Rule… I only found out about it through a random conversation with friends who were moving to London. And lucky I did! Otherwise I likely wouldn’t have had a clue about it before embarking on our 7 month Euro trip in 2017. Here’s everything you need to know about Europe’s 90 Day Shengen Rule, who it affects, what countries does it include, how you can stay longer, and a list of alternative countries to visit in Europe that aren’t in the Schengen Agreement.
Feel free to ask any questions about it – I know it can kind of be confusing… It took me a while to wrap my head around it 😉
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What Is The Schengen Agreement?
In short, the Schengen Agreement is an agreement made between numerous countries in Europe to allow for border free travel between the agreeing countries. The way I like to think of it is similar to the United States. Each agreeing country becomes a state of the Schengen Zone, and like the USA, you can travel between the different states with no issue of border security, or a passport (though I always recommend to travel with your passport).
Which Countries Are In The Schengen Agreement?
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- Czech Republic
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- Denmark
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- Estonia
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- Finland
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- Greece
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- Hungary
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- Iceland
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- Latvia
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- Lithuania
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- Luxembourg
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- Malta
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- Netherlands
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- Norway
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- Poland
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- Slovakia
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- Slovenia
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- Spain
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- Sweden
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- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
These 26 countries are all a part of the Schengen Agreement, and thus allow border free travel between one another.
*Do note that not all countries in the EU are a part of the Schengen Agreement, and not all those in the Schengen Agreement are a part of the EU.
How Does It Affect You?
You’re probably thinking that all sounds fab! And trust me it is amazing. It saves a lot of time when traveling between these countries.
But what it does mean is that you are only allowed 90 days out of any 180 day period in the Schengen Zone. Often for countries around the world you may be allowed anywhere from 3-6 months in each country. So the bummer for this is that you are only able to have 3 months shared between all of the Schengen Countries.
So really it only affects you if you plan to spend 90 days+ / 180 days in these specific European countries. You’ll need to map out your trip and count your days.
The count starts as soon as you enter a Schengen country.
No one is entirely clear if the counting works either of these two ways:
1. The 180 days resets from date of first entry… Or….
2. You can only ever be in the zone for 90 days within any 180 day time frame.
To be safe, plan your trip and count your days using the latter option. (I actually think the latter option is the official rule).
Otherwise you could essentially come into the Schengen zone for one day then leave (just to start the 180 day count), then come back for the last 89 days of the 180 day count. Once it’s reset, you get another 90 days that you can stay. Meaning you could be in the zone for 179 days in a row, and I don’t think that will go down too well with authorities, do you?
So for example:
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- I enter France on January 1st and travel around for 30 days through France and Italy.
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- I then fly to the UK.
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- On April 1st I go to Greece for 14 days.
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- I then fly back home to New Zealand.
- My total day count in the Schengen Zone is 44 days.
- If I come back February the next year, I will count back 180 days and see that 14/90 days have already been used from the April trip. The January trip has expired and doesn’t fit in the 180 day count back.
Do You Need A Visa To Travel In The Schengen Zone?
People from most countries are able to travel visa free through Europe and the Schengen Zone.
For example, those from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA are not required to obtain a visa before entering the Schengen zone, as long as you don’t exceed the 90/180 day limit.
You can see the full list of visa exempt countries here.
And here is the full list of those who will need to get a visa to be able to enter the Schengen Zone for 90 days.
Citizens of Ireland and the UK are allowed limitless entry – oh to have a British passport – that’s like the holy grail where I’m from haha.
*UPDATE: In 2022 a new visa waiver system will be put in place called the European Travel and Authorization System (ETIAS). This will essentially work like the ESTA system that the USA has in place. It’s put in place as a way to help keep track of those people entering into the Schengen zone who are visa exempt (Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, US, etc). You can read more about it here.
Non Schengen Countries
Before moving on to the next section, I thought it best to mention those European countries not in the Schengen Agreement… There’s actually quite a few!
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- Bulgaria
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- Cyprus
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- Romania
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- Albania
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- Kosovo
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- Macedonia
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- Serbia
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- Ukraine
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- Georgia
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- Moldova
- Belarus
*Do note that Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Croatia are seeking to join the Schengen Agreement soon.
How Can You Stay Longer Than 90 Days?
There’s a few options for you with this… One is easy, one is hard, one probably won’t be possible for you, and one may be far fetched.
Mix Of Schengen & Non Schengen Travel
Do remember that there are 16 amazing countries in Europe that aren’t part of the Schengen zone… Why not do 90 days in Schengen, then 90 days in the non Schengen countries to reset the counter, then repeat. I spent one month living in Montenegro so I could stay out of the Schengen zone, and Montenegro is by far one of my favourite countries. I also went to Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina; both of which are absolutely incredible! Again, when I needed to exit the Schengen Zone, I went to the UK and Ireland. Often with these countries you are able to stay in each for 3-6 months visa free (depending where you are from).
This method is the easiest one in my opinion. It may take some planning in advance to count your days and work around specific events that you want to attend in the Schengen Zone, but it also gets you exploring a lot of Eastern Europe that people often over look. These countries are a lot less crowded than the typical Schengen ones.
Get A Visa
There are several types of visas you can apply for to stay longer in the Schengen Zone and in Europe in general:
Working Holiday Visa (2 years)
If you’re from Australia, New Zealand, or Canada (and other selected countries) and under 30 years old, it’s possible for you to get a 2 year working holiday visa for a specific country in the Schengen Zone. This visa will only allow you to work in the country you obtained it from, but it will allow you to travel limitlessly throughout the Schengen Zone for 2 years. What you can do is get it from one country, and then after 2 years apply for one from another country. You also don’t actually have to work either… It just gives you the right to work.
A Long-Term Stay Visa (1 year)
I’ve heard this visa can be quite difficult to get your hands on, but if you can it will allow you to stay for up to 1 year. I’ve been told Italy, France, and Sweden are the easiest countries to apply for one of these. Remember you will have to apply well in advance of arriving… Give yourself 6 months to be safe.
Get The Right Passport
Have family of Irish, UK, or European descent? This may just be your ticket in! Usually if your grandparents were born in one of these countries, you will be able to get a passport. Or if your parents have one of these passports, you may have the right to one too. It’s worth looking into, but sadly not a possibility for many of us. Count yourself lucky if you can!
Marry A European!
Europe is the continent of romance! Who knows…. You may just find the love of your life while relaxing on the French Riviera? But don’t hold your breath on this one haha.
Hopefully this post and info has helped you plan your Euro trip a little better! You can definitely pop in and out of the Schengen and go visit other non Schengen countries till your counter allows it… In fact that’s totally what I recommend to do! Especially when it means getting to travel Eastern Europe 😉
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17 Comments
Hi Hannah!…great article 🙂 thanks! I have a question…and I’m confused, hopefully you’ll have an answer…My mother spent 3 months in Croatia, and she needs to travel to Germany…does that mean that she can spend freely 90 days in Germany, or other Schengen country, because Croatia is not in Schengen? Thanks in advance.
Hey! To my knowledge, that is correct 🙂
Great list! Thanks for sharing Have you been to Central Asia as well? Just curious whether you could include any countries from that region on your list…this is accurate info I have been looking for thanks for sharing the information in detail.
My wife and I are administrators of an NGO in Spain, and we have recently written an email to a family giving them a very similar explanation of the 90/180 rule as you gave above. The rule doesn’t really take into consideration that a tourist will be in Europe for more than 3 months and travel in and out of Schengen countries during their stay. You explained it about as well as it can be explained. The best option that we have found is, as you suggested, to count backwards 180 days from time that you are planning to reenter the Schengen countries in order to determine how many days of the 90-day period that you have remaining.
I would like to suggest one correction, and I understand that this might be semantics. The one-year visa is a temporary visa. After five years of living in a Schengen country, if you qualify then you can apply for what is called a long-term visa that is good for 5 years.
I have never heard about the 90/180 rule before! I knew you could travel through some countries without a passport but I didn’t know about this! Definitely makes backpacking a little more complicated lol
I had no idea about the day limit! Thanks for the heads up! Planning on taking a long trip to the EU either later in the year or early next year
Glad I saw this and read it!! Literally just heard about the Schengen Zone the other day, but didn’t know what it was… What a coincidence.
Handy to know! Apparently, i heard as a fellow kiwi passport holder we fall under a clause in the schengen with a bilateral agreement. So we can stay in some countries for upto 3 months or 90 days.( Each) It warns to email the embassy’s in advance to check they still honour the agreements. Do yal know much about that?
Hey Shannon!
Yeah I’ve heard about this too! I found this post helpful for it: https://www.brenontheroad.com/new-zealand-bilateral-visa-waivers-schengen/
Bren emailed each country’s embassy and never really got a straight answer haha.
Before assuming you are allowed to stay longer on the bilateral agreement, I would try and obtain it in writing from each embassy first 🙂
That’s just my advice, so you won’t get screwed over!
You can no longer get UK passports from grandparents, it has to be from parents. You can however get a 5 year UK Ancestry Visa if your grandparents were born there.
Nice post! I wrote a paper on this agreement in law school 🙂
It’s super confusing! I am so happy I live in Norway and don’t have to think about it. Not do I have to go on long trips in Europe either as everything is super close 😍 Lucky me 😍
So lucky Lena! Norway is my dream!!! It’s a strong part of my lineage actually… I gotta come visit ya some day!
omg this is super useful info!! Thank you for sharing. Hadn’t thought about the day limit!
Glad you found it helpful, Any! 🙂
Ah this did my head in when I backpacked for 8 months. It never said it clearly but after your 180 days (from first Schengen country) you have to wait another 90 days then go back and it resets. I went and saw embassies in Spain and Portugal to find out about it. They said if I entered the first one April 1 then after 180 days say Nov 1 (6 months) I couldn’t go back in to Schengen countries until 1 February (90 days later). I was so bloody annoyed. I could write an epic rant on this lol. I’m not done yet lol… I thought after 180 days it would just reset, or if I did 90 days in Schengen straight up and then did non-Schengen for 90 days I’d then reach 180 days and it would reset – neither of these were allowed. Sorry for the rant, it cut my Europe trip short and I went to the USA lol.
Oh my gosh that sounds so painful!!! With stuff like this, the authorities don’t even know themselves how it works. No one ever gets a clear answer! That’s such a bummer you had to cut your trip short 🙁