FS31E - Schengen 90/180 rule – UK citizens

The rules

The basic principles of the 90/180 rule are: 

UK nationals (British citizen passport holders)

• are allowed to remain in Schengen territory for 90 days in any 180-day period

• if your trips are not 90 days consecutive, it is then a rolling 180-day period; it’s not fixed, it’s a moving window which looks backwards at each day of stay in Schengen

• the date of first entry is considered as the first day of stay in Schengen

• the date of exit is considered as the last day of stay in Schengen

• absence for an uninterrupted period of 90 days allows for a new stay of up to 90 days

To help plan trips or to confirm how long a non-EU citizen has remaining on their stay in the Schengen area, the EU commission has produced a short stay visa calculator, which you can access via this link:  short stay visa calculator

There is also an instruction manual with some practical examples which may help explain the situation further: instruction manual with some practical examples 

Please note that to use the calculator you should match the last date of exit to the date of entry/control, otherwise the calculator provides the following response: "The stay with entering date dd/mm/yy is later than the exit date dd/mm/yy. Calculation of stay is not possible”. See example below:

Another visa calculator can be found HERE. 

Travelling with an EU spouse

We have been asked if the EU nationality status of a spouse entitles a non-EU citizen to travel in the Schengen area without adhering to the Schengen regulations and the answer is no, it does not. 

Questions or problems

It does seem confusing when using the calculator that the 180 and 90 day calculations change as trips are added to the calculation. We have tried several permutations and have witnessed the changes to the dates along with an update on the number of days left either in the Schengen area or before the next visit can be made. We should point out though that the calculator is only a tool to help you plan trips and the last word on entry to the Schengen area rests with the border patrol officer who checks your passport on entry. It is pointless getting into an argument with the border services because the calculator has given you a different answer to what they may tell you at the check point. 

Usually, we would end a Fact Sheet by advising Members to contact us if they have any problems with the information included in the document, but sadly on this occasion we have to advise afpop Members to refer any problems that they may have to the British Embassy or Consulate, as we are not in a position to give any assistance on this particular issue. 

Any problems or questions should be referred to the British Embassy or Consulates.

Information provided by British Embassy (Portugal) and the European Commission (ec.europa.eu)