As a Brit who voted Remain, I yearn for the pre-Brexit days when the only thing limiting my time travelling around the continent was the amount of money in my bank account.
Alas. No point dwelling on the past – unless Andy Burnham wants to go ‘all the way’ and rejoin? Please, and thank you. Or someone with an EU passport wants to get down on one knee…
For citizens of third countries, the maximum stay within the Schengen Area is 90 days within any 180-day period, and as someone who travels within the EU frequently, tracking my days has become a bit of an obsession.
I’m not the only one, either – there’s a whole group of people attempting the “Schengen shuffle”, aka alternating between Schengen and non-Schengen countries to stay within the rules without leaving Europe.
There’s an easy way to keep an eye on your limit, but first, let’s cover the rules.
What you need to know about the EU’s ‘short stays’ rules
As previously mentioned, “short stays” allow non-EU citizens to spend up to 90 days within a 180-day period within the Schengen Area.
Taking it back to basics, the Schengen Area covers 29 countries: 25 of the 27 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), and four non-EU countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).
In case you were wondering, the two EU member states that aren’t in the Schengen Area are Cyprus and Ireland.
While citizens from some countries, such as China, Indonesia, India and the Philippines, require visas when entering the Schengen Area, those from countries such as the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand do not. You can find the full lists on the EU law website here.
How to check how many days you have left within the Schengen Area
The 90 days within a 180-day period doesn’t “reset” every six months, but instead operates on a rolling basis. That means you’ll need to look back at the past 180 days and count how many you’ve spent within the Schengen Area, and that you’ll gain back days as time progresses.
The EU’s much-maligned Entry/Exit System (EES) was introduced last year (and fully enforced from April) to allow for the automatic detection of overstayers.
You could keep track of your 90 days manually, but you can also check how long you can stay on the EES website here.
You’ll need to input your passport details, put in the intended dates of your next trip, and which country you’re visiting. The website will then tell you your remaining days upon entry, and upon exit. Easy peasy.
The penalties for those who overstay vary from country to country. Some countries, like Germany, could fine you up to €3,000, while others could ban you from re-entry for a few months, or even several years.
You’ll also likely face stricter border controls the next time you attempt to enter the Schengen Area, and you may be refused entry.