Schengen · 7 minute read
Schengen 90/180 Rule Explained, with Worked Examples
How the Schengen 90/180 rule works for UK residents on non-UK passports: the rolling window, which days count, four worked examples and the official EU tools.
Fast Travellers · Reviewed
You can spend up to 90 days in the Schengen Area in any 180-day period. The window rolls. On every day of your stay, look back over the last 180 days, including that day, and count each day you spent in any of the 29 Schengen countries. Your entry and exit days both count. The total must never pass 90.
What the 90/180 rule says
The rule is in Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code. It covers stays of "no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay".
In plain terms, there is no fixed start date. The EU's handbook for border guards describes a "moving" 180-day period: on each day of your stay, you look backwards over the last 180 days and check that you are still within 90.
The rule applies whether you hold a Schengen visa or come from a country that does not need one. Your UK residence does not give you extra Schengen days. A UK eVisa lets you live in the UK, not in France or Spain.
The same handbook is clear about who has to keep count: "Responsibility for complying with the 90/180-day rule lies with the traveller."
How to count your days
- Entry and exit days both count. The Borders Code treats the date of entry as the first day of stay and the date of exit as the last. A trip from Monday to Friday is five days, not four.
- A day trip is one day. A few hours in the Schengen Area still counts as a full day.
- All 29 countries count together. Ten days in Italy and ten days in Greece is 20 days, not ten each.
- The window includes the day you are checking. On 1 July 2027, you look back to 3 January 2027 and count every day of stay in that period.
The 29 Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Worked example 1: one trip
You fly to Paris on Saturday 3 April 2027 and come home on Saturday 17 April 2027.
That is 15 days of stay: 3 April is day 1 and 17 April is day 15. Many people say "two weeks" and assume 14 days. The border counts days, and both ends count.
Worked example 2: two trips, then a third
Say you have already made two trips this year:
- Trip A: 10 January to 8 February 2027, which is 30 days
- Trip B: 1 April to 15 May 2027, which is 45 days
That is 75 days used. You want to go back in the summer. How long you can stay depends on when you enter, because Trip A only starts to drop out of the window on 9 July.
| You enter on | Days already in the window | Longest stay | Last day you can be there |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 June 2027 | 75 | 15 days | 4 July 2027 |
| 1 July 2027 | 75 | 45 days | 14 August 2027 |
Why the difference? If you enter on 20 June, both earlier trips stay inside the window for your whole visit. You reach 90 days on 4 July.
If you enter on 1 July, you reach 83 days on 8 July. From 9 July, one day of Trip A drops out of the window for every new day you spend in Europe, so your total stays at 83. Once the last day of Trip A has dropped out, on 7 August, your total climbs again and reaches 90 on 14 August.
Entering eleven days later triples the length of the trip. This is why it pays to plan dates before you book.
Worked example 3: 90 days in, 90 days out
You stay in the Schengen Area from 1 January to 31 March 2027. That is exactly 90 days.
You cannot come back until those days start to leave the window. The earliest date you can enter again is 30 June 2027. From then, if you have made no other trips, you could stay up to 90 days again, until 27 September 2027.
The border guards' handbook puts it simply: "an absence for an uninterrupted period of 90 days allows for a new stay of up to 90 days."
Worked example 4: the half-year myth
Some people think the 180 days are fixed blocks, such as January to June and July to December. They are not.
Suppose you stay from 1 April to 29 June 2027, which is 90 days, and plan to return on 1 July because "a new half-year has started". On 1 July, the window runs from 3 January to 1 July. All 90 days are still inside it. Entering that day would take you to 91.
The earliest you could return is 28 September 2027. On that day, 1 April has dropped out of the window, so your total is 89 days plus the new day.
Visa validity, duration of stay and the 90/180 rule
A Schengen visa sticker has three fields that limit your trip:
- Valid from and until: the first and last dates you can be in the Schengen Area on this visa.
- Duration of stay: the number of days you may spend there under this visa.
- Number of entries: 1, 2 or MULT for multiple.
You must respect all three and the 90/180 rule at the same time. If your visa is valid from 1 May to 15 June but the duration of stay says 20, you can spend 20 days in that period, not 46.
A multiple-entry visa valid for one, two or five years does not change the rule. It saves you applying for each trip. It does not give you more than 90 days in any 180.
Days that do not count
- Days in the UK, Ireland and Cyprus. They are not part of the Schengen Area.
- Days in non-Schengen countries such as Turkey, Albania or Serbia.
- Days you spend in a Schengen country on a residence permit or long-stay visa issued by a Schengen country. The Borders Code says these periods "shall not be taken into account".
Check your days with the official tools
The European Commission publishes a free short-stay calculator. You enter the dates of your past stays and the date you want to check, and it shows how many days you have used. Do not enter time spent on a Schengen residence permit or long-stay visa.
The EU's Entry/Exit System website also has a tool to check how long you can stay, based on the entries and exits recorded for you. It only reflects stays recorded from 10 April 2026.
Use them before you book flights, not after. Enter every trip from the last six months, including short weekends. If the result is close to 90, leave a few days of margin in case a flight home is delayed.
How the Entry/Exit System records your days
The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) started on 12 October 2025 and has been fully operational at Schengen external borders since 10 April 2026. It records your entries and exits electronically, together with biometric data, and manual passport stamping has been abolished. In practice, the border now has an exact record of your days.
EES applies to short-stay visitors, both visa holders and visitors who do not need a visa. You do not apply for it. You are registered at the border the first time you cross.
You may also have heard of ETIAS, the EU's planned travel authorisation. It is for visitors who do not need a visa. If you hold a Schengen visa, you do not need ETIAS. On 9 October 2026, the official ETIAS website said the system was not yet in operation.
What happens if you overstay
Overstaying breaks the conditions of your stay. Each country sets its own penalties, which can include a fine, removal and an entry ban. An overstay also stays on your record and makes future Schengen visa applications much harder.
If something outside your control stops you leaving, such as a serious illness or cancelled flights, ask the authorities of the country you are in to extend your visa before it runs out. Under Article 33 of the Visa Code, an extension for force majeure or humanitarian reasons is free. An extension for serious personal reasons is at the authority's discretion and costs €30. Keep evidence, and check with the local authorities what they need.
Plan your next trip with us
Not sure how many days you have left, or which consulate to apply to for your next trip? Book a free eligibility check and we will count your days and check your documents before you apply. See our country pages for France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Greece.
Questions people ask
Do the entry and exit days count in the Schengen 90/180 rule?
Yes. The Schengen Borders Code treats the date of entry as the first day of stay and the date of exit as the last day, even if you land late at night or fly out early in the morning.
Does the 90/180 rule reset every six months?
No. There are no fixed six-month blocks. The 180-day window moves forward one day at a time, so on any day you look back over the 180 days that end on that day.
Does time in the UK, Ireland or Cyprus count towards my 90 days?
No. Only days in the 29 Schengen countries count. The UK, Ireland and Cyprus are outside the Schengen Area.
Can I spend 90 days in France and then another 90 days in Germany?
No. The 90 days cover all 29 Schengen countries together, not each country separately.
Does a multiple-entry Schengen visa let me stay longer than 90 days?
No. A multiple-entry visa lets you enter more than once while it is valid. Every day you spend in the Schengen Area still has to fit within 90 days in any 180-day period.