Schengen Area — 90/180-Day Rule

Summary

Limit

90 days

Window

Any 180 days (rolling)

Applies to

Whole Schengen Area

Counting

Entry and exit days both count

Basis

Schengen Borders Code, Art. 6

As a visa-free visitor or short-stay (Type C) visa holder, you may spend a maximum of 90 days within any rolling 180-day period in the Schengen Area. The limit is zone-wide: days in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece or any other Schengen country all draw on the same 90-day allowance. There is no annual reset and no per-country allowance — the window recalculates continuously.

Who it applies to

The 90/180 rule governs short stays. It matters most if you are:

• A citizen of a visa-exempt country (for example the US, UK, Canada, Australia) visiting Schengen without a visa.
• A holder of a short-stay (Type C) Schengen visa for tourism, business, or family visits.
• A remote worker or frequent traveler splitting time between Schengen and elsewhere.

It does not apply to time spent on a national long-stay (Type D) visa or a residence permit — that time is counted separately and is not charged against the 90 days.

The rule — and why it exists

Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399) caps short stays at 90 days in any 180-day period. There are effectively two caps working at once:

• The rolling total. Across any 180-day window you may not exceed 90 days of presence anywhere in the zone.
• The single-stay cap. No one continuous visit may exceed 90 days, even if your 180-day window is otherwise empty.

Why it exists: abolishing internal border checks between Schengen countries meant they needed one shared, uniform rule for how long non-residents may stay. A common allowance across the whole area lets travelers move freely once inside, while still limiting short-stay visitors to genuine short stays rather than de facto residence.

Counting the days

Both your day of arrival and your day of departure count as full days inside the area, even if you only cross the border for a few hours. To check compliance on any given date:

1. 1Pick the date you want to check — usually your planned entry or departure date.
2. 2Look back over the previous 180 days from that date.
3. 3Add up every day you were physically present anywhere in the Schengen Area in that window.
4. 4Stay at or below 90 — your remaining allowance is 90 minus that total.

The 180-day window is not a fixed calendar block with a set reset date — it moves forward one day at a time. Each day, the oldest day drops off the back of the window and a new day is added at the front. A day only "frees up" once it is more than 180 days in the past, so leaving and re-entering does not reset your count.

Examples

Example 1 — a single long visit

You enter with a completely clean 180-day window and stay 85 straight days. You are within both caps. But you now have only 5 days of allowance left, and it stays that way until your early days begin ageing out of the 180-day window.

Example 2 — splitting trips doesn't help

You spend 60 days in Spain in spring, leave, then return two weeks later planning another 60 days in Italy. Because the earlier 60 days are still inside the rolling 180-day window, your second trip is capped at roughly 30 days — not a fresh 90 — until those spring days start dropping off.

Example 3 — days ageing out

You used 90 days ending on 1 March. By counting forward, the first of those days becomes more than 180 days old around late August, and your allowance rebuilds one day at a time from there — you do not regain the full 90 all at once.

Exceptions & edge cases

• National long-stay visas and residence permits. Time spent on a Type D visa or a residence permit is counted separately and is not charged against the 90/180 allowance.
• Bilateral visa-waiver agreements. A few Schengen countries have older bilateral agreements that can allow additional stay in that specific country beyond the 90-day cap, under particular conditions. These are exceptions, are country-specific, and are contested in practice.
• Non-Schengen EU and neighbouring countries. Ireland, Cyprus, and non-EU states such as the UK run their own separate rules — time there does not count toward Schengen days, and vice versa.
• Force majeure. If you are unable to leave on time for reasons beyond your control (illness, cancelled transport), authorities may treat a short overstay leniently, but you should seek an official extension rather than rely on it.

Common misconceptions

• "Leaving resets my 90 days." False — the window is rolling, so exiting and re-entering does not clear the count.
• "Each country gives me its own 90 days." False — the whole Schengen Area shares a single 90-day allowance.
• "180 days resets every six months on a fixed date." False — there is no calendar reset; the 180-day window recalculates continuously.
• "A short border hop doesn't count as a day." False — any day you are present, including arrival and departure days, counts as a full day.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code), Article 6 — entry conditions
• European Commission — Short-stay visa calculator
• European Commission — Visa policy overview