Questions, answered
The travel-day questions people actually ask — answered directly, with the full rule and official sources behind each one.
Does the 90-day rule reset after 180 days?No — there is no reset moment. The 180-day window rolls forward one day at a time, so each day you spent in Schengen stops counting exactly 180 days after it happened. Your allowance rebuilds gradually as old days age out, never all at once on a fixed date.When can I return to Schengen after 90 days?You can return once you have spent 90 full days outside, if you used your 90 days in one unbroken stretch — your first lawful day back is 180 days after your original entry, which is the 91st day after your exit day. From that day you can stay continuously for up to 90 more, because one old day drops out of the window for every new day you add. If your days were spread across trips, the wait is shorter but the arithmetic is trickier — your allowance rebuilds as each old day passes the 180-day mark.When does the 180-day period start in Schengen?It doesn't start on any fixed date. The 180-day period is counted backwards from whichever day is being checked — usually the day you enter or leave. On every day of a stay, the window is 'the 180 days ending today', so it moves forward each day and never has a start date you can anchor to.What does “90 days in any 180-day period” mean?It means that on every day of your stay, the 180 days ending on that day may contain at most 90 days of presence in the Schengen Area. “Any” is the key word: every possible 180-day window must comply — it is a rolling check, not one fixed six-month block with a quota.How long can I stay in Thailand without a visa?30 days per visit, for tourism, if you hold one of the 60 visa-exempt passports (including the EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia, and India) — the rule since 15 September 2026, when the old 60-day exemption was revoked. An extension of up to 30 days is possible at an immigration office, at the officer's discretion (7 days at most for some nationalities, including India). Anyone admitted on or before 14 September 2026 keeps the 60 days stamped at entry.What is the 183-day rule?The 183-day rule is the most common day-count test countries use to decide tax residency: spend more than half the measuring period there — usually a calendar year, tax year, or rolling 12 months — and you generally become a tax resident, taxable on your worldwide income. The exact line varies: some countries require 183 days or more (the UK, Canada, the UAE), others more than 183 (Spain, Cyprus, Brazil), and some, like France, have no day count at all.How many months is 183 days?183 days is just over six months: half of a 365-day year is 182.5 days, and six calendar months run 181 to 184 days depending on where you start. It is 26 weeks and 1 day, or 50.1% of a 365-day year. It is the smallest whole number of days that is more than half of a 365-day year (in a leap year it is exactly half), which is why so many countries use it as the tax-residency threshold: spend 183 days there in a normal year and you were present for the majority of it.What is tax residency?Tax residency is the country whose tax system treats you as a resident — usually the one where you spend most of your time — often more than half the year, around 183 days depending on the country's exact rule — or where your permanent home, family, and work are. Being tax resident generally means that country taxes your worldwide income, not just what you earn there. It is separate from citizenship and from your visa.Can you be tax resident in two countries?Yes. Each country applies its own residency test, so you can pass two at once — say over 183 days in Spain while your family home keeps you UK resident. A tax treaty's tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality) then assigns you to one country; with no treaty, both can tax you and foreign tax credits limit the overlap.What is the substantial presence test?The substantial presence test is the IRS day-count rule that makes a non-citizen a US resident for tax purposes. You meet it if you were in the United States at least 31 days in the current year and 183 weighted days over three years — all of this year's days, plus one-third of last year's, plus one-sixth of the year before. Meet it and the US taxes your worldwide income.What is the Cyprus 60-day rule?The Cyprus 60-day rule makes you a Cyprus tax resident for a calendar year with as little as 60 days there — far below the usual 183 — provided you also spend no more than 183 days in any other single country, keep a permanent home in Cyprus (owned or rented), and carry on a business, work, or hold an office in a Cyprus tax-resident company that is not terminated during the year. Since tax year 2026 you no longer also have to show that you are not tax resident anywhere else.What is a tax residency certificate and how do I get one?A tax residency certificate (TRC) is an official document from a country's tax authority confirming you were tax resident there for a given year. You need it mainly to claim tax-treaty benefits — reduced withholding tax on dividends, interest, and royalties — and to prove your status to foreign tax offices, banks, and employers. You apply to the tax authority of the country where you qualify as resident, with evidence of your days and ties.What is double taxation and how do tax treaties prevent it?Double taxation is when two countries tax the same income of the same person for the same period — typically because one taxes you as a resident on your worldwide income while the other taxes the same income because it was earned there, or because both consider you resident. A double taxation agreement (tax treaty) prevents it by deciding which country you are resident in, allocating each type of income to one country or capping what the source country may withhold, and obliging your residence country to exempt that income or credit the foreign tax.What is a deemed resident of Canada?A deemed resident is someone Canadian tax law treats as a resident even though they lack the usual residential ties — most commonly because they “sojourned” (stayed temporarily) in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year without being a factual resident. Deemed residents owe federal tax on their worldwide income for the entire year.What is a deemed non-resident of Canada?A deemed non-resident is someone who would otherwise be resident in Canada — factually or as a deemed resident — but whom a tax treaty's tie-breaker rules assign to another country. Canadian law then treats them as a non-resident: taxed only on Canadian-source income, with departure-tax consequences from the day the status begins.How long can NZ pensioners stay overseas?Up to 26 weeks (182 days) per trip without affecting NZ Super or the Veteran's Pension — payments continue as normal, with no application needed, as long as New Zealand stays your home. For a trip longer than 26 weeks, apply to Work and Income before you leave; if you're delayed, payments stop after week 26, but coming back within 30 weeks means you keep what was paid. The Winter Energy Payment stops much sooner: it covers at most 28 days abroad in total across the winter period.How do I get a German tax residency certificate (Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung)?A German tax residency certificate — the Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung — is issued by your local Finanzamt, not by the Federal Central Tax Office. You fill in either the form your foreign payer's tax authority supplies or the German standard form 034450 ("Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung nach DBA") from the Bundesfinanzverwaltung form portal, sign it, and send it in duplicate to the Finanzamt that handles your income tax. It checks your application and your file against the relevant tax treaty, certifies directly on the form and returns the original. The official federal portal gives a processing time of one month, and the North Rhine-Westphalia tax administration states that the certificate is free.What are the automatic overseas tests?The automatic overseas tests are five tests in the UK Statutory Residence Test that make you automatically non-UK-resident for a tax year; two of them apply only in the tax year of death. The three that apply to everyone else are met if (1) you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years and spent fewer than 16 days in the UK, (2) you were non-resident in all three and spent fewer than 46 days, or (3) you worked full-time overseas with fewer than 91 UK days, fewer than 31 UK workdays and no significant break.What is the sufficient ties test?The sufficient ties test is the third stage of the UK Statutory Residence Test, for people who meet neither the automatic overseas nor the automatic UK tests. Residence depends on how many UK ties you have (family, accommodation, work, 90-day, country) against your days in the UK. Arrivers: 46–90 days need 4 ties, 91–120 need 3, 121–182 need 2. Leavers: 16–45 days need 4 ties, 46–90 need 3, 91–120 need 2, 121–182 need 1.What is the SA109 form?SA109 is the set of residence supplementary pages of the UK Self Assessment tax return. For 2025–26 it is titled “Residence and foreign income and gains (FIG) regime etc”, replacing “Residence, remittance basis etc” now that the remittance basis has been abolished from 6 April 2025. You file it if you were non-UK resident or have split year treatment. You also file it to claim the FIG regime, Overseas Workday Relief or the temporary repatriation facility, or to claim treaty residence elsewhere. HMRC’s own online return cannot include SA109, so filers use commercial software, an agent or the paper return.When can I apply for ILR?You can apply for indefinite leave to remain up to 28 days before you complete your qualifying period — five years on most work and family routes, three years on accelerated routes such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder, two years on a few legacy routes, and ten years for long residence. That only holds if your absences stayed within 180 days in every rolling 12-month period; a breach can push your date back.How long does an ILR application take?A standard indefinite leave to remain application is usually decided within six months of you proving your identity and submitting your documents. Where offered for your route, the paid upgrades are faster. For the £500 priority service GOV.UK gives conflicting figures for settlement: 30 working days on its faster-decision page, 5 working days on its Skilled Worker settlement page (checked 9 October 2026). Super priority (£1,000) usually gives a decision by the end of the next working day. Complex cases, missing evidence or a request for an interview can take longer on any service.What documents do I need for ILR?For a five-year-route ILR application you need proof of identity and current status (passport plus BRP or eVisa), a complete record of every absence from the UK during the qualifying period, your Life in the UK test pass, evidence of English at the required level, and route-specific proof such as an employer letter for Skilled Worker or relationship evidence on the partner route. Dependants need their own identity and relationship documents.How long does it take to establish residency in a new state?Legally, domicile can change on day one: you move to the new state intending to stay and cut ties with the old one. In practice your former state keeps taxing you until you can prove it — commonly more than 183 days in the new state and fewer than 183 in the old, plus a new license, voter registration, homestead and home. Programs like in-state tuition (often 12 months) or Florida's homestead exemption (owning and living in the home on 1 January) run on their own clocks.What are the new ILR rules in 2026?As of 9 October 2026 the qualifying periods for ILR have not changed. The Home Office has proposed an "earned settlement" model with a ten-year standard baseline, reductions for contribution and extensions for poor conduct. The consultation outcome and any rules implementing it have not been published. The biggest settlement change already in the Rules is that from 26 March 2027 most routes need B2 English instead of B1. Today the five-year standard, the 3, 2 and 10-year route exceptions and the 180-day absence rule still apply.What counts as an absence for ILR?For ILR, an absence is any whole day spent outside the UK. The day you leave and the day you return are not counted. Across your whole qualifying period you must not exceed 180 days of absence in any rolling 12-month period. Some absences can be disregarded with evidence, such as travel disruption caused by natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic, or compelling compassionate circumstances like a life-threatening illness or a death in the family. Ordinary holidays and business trips cannot.How much does ILR cost?The ILR fee in 2026 is £3,226 per applicant, unchanged in the Home Office fee table of 8 October 2026 (checked 9 October 2026), and every dependant on the application pays the same. The Immigration Health Surcharge is not payable on ILR. Optional priority (£500) and super priority (£1,000) services, the £50 Life in the UK test, any English test and paid biometric appointment slots are extra. The fee is not refunded if the application is refused.Is the ILR priority service worth it?It is worth it if you have imminent travel, a job start that needs proof of status, or a real cost to waiting. Priority costs £500 and super priority £1,000. GOV.UK gives conflicting figures for priority on settlement: its faster-decision page says 30 working days, while its Skilled Worker settlement page says 5 working days (checked 9 October 2026). Super priority usually gives a decision by the end of the next working day. The standard service usually takes up to six months. GOV.UK's eligibility table offers most settlement routes only one of the two upgrades. For a straightforward case with no deadline, the standard service gets the same decision for nothing extra.What English test do I need for ILR?It depends on your route and on when you apply. Before 26 March 2027, most adult ILR applicants need English at CEFR B1 in speaking and listening, but Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker and Scale-up main applicants have no English requirement at settlement. From 26 March 2027 the level rises to B2 on most routes, including Skilled Worker and Scale-up. You meet it with an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT), a qualifying degree, a passport from a listed majority-English-speaking country, an earlier successful application at the required level, or a GCSE, A level or Scottish qualification in English taken at a UK school. Under-18s, over-65s and people with a qualifying condition are exempt.What happens after I get ILR?Once ILR is granted your status is held as an eVisa in your UKVI account, with no time limit and no conditions on work. You can claim public funds as a settled person and travel on your passport, subject to the destination's rules for your nationality. ILR lapses if you spend more than two continuous years outside the UK, and after twelve months you can usually apply for British citizenship.Can you lose indefinite leave to remain?Yes. Indefinite leave to remain lapses automatically if you stay outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for more than two continuous years (five years for EU Settlement Scheme status, four for Swiss citizens and their family members). A deportation order invalidates it, and the Home Office can revoke it where you are liable to deportation but cannot legally be deported, where it was obtained by deception, or where a refugee voluntarily re-avails themselves of their home country's protection. A lapsed ILR can sometimes be recovered with a Returning Resident visa; becoming a British citizen removes the risk entirely.How do I get a US tax residency certificate (Form 6166)?You apply on Form 8802, Application for United States Residency Certification, and the IRS issues Form 6166 — a letter on Treasury letterhead certifying that you were a US resident for tax purposes in the year requested. Individuals pay a $105 user fee per application (for applications postmarked on or after 1 October 2026; it was $85 before) through Pay.gov or by cheque, then mail or fax the form to the IRS Philadelphia residency certification unit, or file it through the IRS online form. Allow at least 45 days; requests for the coming year cannot be postmarked before 1 December.What is the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and what does it mean for your travel days?The Entry/Exit System is the EU's digital border register for non-EU visitors on short stays. Since its rollout began on 12 October 2025 (fully operational from 10 April 2026), it replaces passport stamps with a record of your name, travel document, facial image, fingerprints and the date and place of every entry and exit across 29 European countries. Border officers see your exact 90/180 usage on screen, so the count you keep yourself needs to match it.Which European countries are not in Schengen, and what happens to your 90 days when you go there?Eighteen European countries sit outside the Schengen Area behind a real external border: the UK and Ireland, EU member Cyprus, Andorra, and the non-EU states Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are non-members too, but sit inside Schengen's borders, so their days count. Time in a genuine non-Schengen country does not use your 90 days — but it does not reset them either.How do I get my UK travel history from the Home Office for ILR or citizenship?Make a free subject access request (SAR) to the Home Office's Subject Access Request Unit through the GOV.UK online form. A 'basic' request returns the digital information held about you since 2000, such as your immigration history and landing cards. GOV.UK does not list entry and exit records as a separate item, so say clearly that you want your travel movements and give the details of the passports you travelled on. The Home Office aims to respond within a month of holding your identity documents, but warns of delays. The record is often incomplete, so reconcile it with your own dates before you list absences on an ILR or naturalisation form.