The Schengen 90/180 rule explained, with examples

What the 90/180 rule says

Visitors from outside the EU can stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The rule is in Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399), which says the check “entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay”.

In practice that means:

• The window moves. There is no fixed half-year that resets. Every single day you are in the area, you look back over the 180 days ending that day.
• Entry and exit days both count. Landing at 11 pm still uses a day, and so does leaving on an early flight. A Friday-to-Sunday trip is 3 days.
• All Schengen countries share one count. A week in France and a week in Italy are two weeks against the same 90 days.

On every day of stay: days of stay in that day and the 179 days before it ≤ 90

How to count it by hand

1. Pick the day to check. Usually the last day of a planned trip, because that is when the count is highest.
2. Go back 179 days. For 30 April 2026 the window starts on 2 November 2025. For 15 August 2026 it starts on 17 February 2026.
3. Add up every day of stay in that window. Count each trip from entry to exit, both included. Days before the window start don't count.
4. Compare with 90. 90 or less is within the rule. 91 or more means you'd be over on that day.

The catch is that checking only the last day isn't always enough when trips are spread out, because the count can peak in the middle of a trip as old days drop off and new ones are added. That is why the European Commission's own calculator, and ours, check every day.

Four worked examples

1. One long trip

You arrive on 1 March 2026 with no earlier visits. You can stay until 29 May: 31 days in March, 30 in April and 29 in May make 90. This is the same example the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration uses. Leaving on 30 May would be day 91.

2. A second trip after a break

You were there from 10 November to 20 December 2025 (41 days) and from 1 February to 15 March 2026 (43 days). That is 84 days. You plan to come back on 20 April 2026.

The second row surprises people: with 6 days left, coming back in April gives a 6-day trip, not a long one. Waiting two weeks turns it into a month.

3. Coming back the next day

In the same example you could also turn around and re-enter on 16 March, the day after leaving. That's allowed, but you would still only have 6 days, because nothing has dropped out of the window yet. Leaving doesn't give days back; only time does.

4. Lots of short trips

Short visits add up faster than they feel. If you spend every Friday to Monday in the Schengen area from 2 January 2026, that is 4 days a week. By Sunday 7 June the 180 days ending that day hold 91 days of stay, and you would be over the limit in the middle of a weekend. Someone living just outside the area and crossing for work runs into this.

Myths that cause overstays

• “After 90 days I just need 90 days out.” Only if the 90 days were in one block. With several trips, what matters is which days fall inside each 180-day window.
• “The count resets on 1 January”, or every six months. It never resets; the window moves one day at a time.
• “A day trip doesn't count.” It does: one day.
• “My visa is valid for a year, so I can stay a year.” A multiple-entry visa valid for a year still allows only 90 days in any 180. The visa can also allow fewer days, shown on the sticker, and you must keep to both.

Who and where the rule applies

The rule covers non-EU nationals on short stays, whether they need a visa or not. Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are not limited. People with a residence permit or a national long-stay visa from a Schengen country can stay in that country under the permit, and days on it don't count towards the 90.

The Schengen area has 29 countries, including non-EU Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and since 2025 Bulgaria and Romania. Ireland is not part of it, and Cyprus had not fully joined as of October 2026, so days there don't count. Some countries also have old bilateral agreements with certain nationalities that allow extra time in that one country; ask that country's embassy, because border guards elsewhere apply the standard rule.

The Entry/Exit System changes how it is checked

Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully running at the Schengen area's external borders. Instead of stamping passports, border guards register your face and fingerprints the first time, and each entry and exit after that is recorded electronically. The system works out your remaining days itself, so an overstay is flagged automatically, even by one day.

That makes your own count matter more, not less. If your records and the EES disagree, for example because a flight was cancelled, keep boarding passes and receipts. ETIAS, the online travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, is a separate system that had not started at the time of writing.

Any calculator, including this one, gives guidance only. The border guard decides, and rules can change, so check the official sources below before you travel.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2016/399, the Schengen Borders Code, Article 6. 90 days in any 180-day period, considering the 180 days before each day of stay
• European Commission: Short-stay calculator user manual. Date of entry is the first day of stay and date of exit the last
• Swiss State Secretariat for Migration: Duration of stay calculator. Example: 1 March to 29 May is 90 days
• European Commission: Smart borders (Entry/Exit System and ETIAS)