Can Anyone decipher the EU 90/180 Day Rule - Page 2

Believe me you are not stupid, it confuses many.
OK, imagine all the days from now on, ad infinitum all laid out in a line. Get a piece of string which is exactly 180 days long and place the front end of the string on the date you want to RETURN to the UK on your next trip and count how many days are covered by the string. If it less than 90 days, you can make the trip. If it is more than 90 days you have to make other plans. You could move the date you return to the UK earlier or delay your outward bound trip until you do have enough days as previous visits start to drop off the rear end.
Once you have got the idea of resets out of your mind it will make sense and you will understand why the calculator is correct.

Read through the information  supplied on the calculator slowly, it is really easy once you’ve got the jist of it.

The calendar resets itself daily, counting backwards 180 days each time .

Try another  Schengen calendar , there’s lots of them around. They’ll give you the same result, but maybe in a friendlier format.

I would suggest though rather than using the calculator to see what you are allowed, use it as a planning tool and input the dates you want to stay, it will then tell you if it’s feasible. Most people I know with holiday homes seem to know when they are coming to visit in the next 12 months. They may not have booked the exact dates , but will have a vague idea . Things like half term holidays, Easter Christmas, couple of months in the summer etc.

Just play with the calculator, trust me it will fall into place.  The calculator is a great tool for exact dates, but just keep a vague track in your head that you can only spend three months out of the last six months in Schengen.Your calculation date for the 180 days in the date you next plan on visiting the Schengen area, so work 180 days backwards from this date. 

Very roughly and using months rather than days to give you an approximate idea  try this example.

 If today was 1st July  in the last 6 months you spent the whole months of January March and May in Schengen , so in the past 6 months you’ve used your  three month allowance.

Fast forward and today is beg of August, so in the last 6 months Feb-July, you’ve spent 2 months out of the last 6 months, so can visit for another month. . However August is too hot and September is to wet  so you don’t plan to visit until beg of October. So in the past six months from beg October - April to September you’ve only spent one month here (May) so you can stay for two months if you so wish.

As I say just very rough examples to try and explain how the 180 day system works. 

Lynn

Its a rolling 180 days its not set at any particular date, within this time you are allowed to stay for 90 days, to many people think its like a 12 month calendar it starts and stops on a certain date the only way that would work was if you did the max 90 days then out 90 days and return for 90 days and out for 90 days.

IMO the 90 day rule couldn’t be much simpler.

If you do not hold an EU passport and you’re in the EU (or planning on being) more than 90 days in the PAST 180 days then you’ve broken the law.

For the life of me I cannot understand any ambiguity folk have understanding this concept.

Attached is a picture of the Schengen calendar we use very simple to use and like most calendars you can plan ahead like we have done.

Regards 

 Jim

Or simply google  "what is 90 days ago"    or   "what is 90 days from now"  

Regards

Gary

Yes it really is that simple and it is the basis of the numerous calendars out there

It's a rolling 90 days out of 180 days, once you've used the 90 days you have not to enter the EU for another 90 days

Thought we had this cracked but obviously not, help!! We came out for 6 days in January, 9 days in February, then came out 25th May until 27th July and intend to come back 6th September to 28th September.  As we were out of Spain March, April and most of May (over 90 days), we thought the clock reset again in May, I have got 3 Schengen apps that give me 3 different timescales.  Any help would be appreciated.

Carol

The clock does not reset, ever, forget all about resetting. It is a continually moving period of 180 days, chugging along a day at a time. 

180 days before 28th September (the day you plan to return to the UK) is April 1st.  Since April 1st you have spent 7 days in May, 30 in June and 27 in July. Then you want to spend 23 days in September which all add up to 87 so you are fine. Forget January and February, they are more than 180 days away from the end of your September visit.

For your current visit, 180 days before you return to the UK on 27th July is 28th January so you count all the days you have been in the Schengen zone during this period. I will assume your January stay was completed before 28th January so can be forgotten about. So, 9 days in February, 7 days in May, 30 in June and 27 days in July so a total of 73 days within this particular 180 day period so again, all OK.

The calculator does work. https://www.visa-calculator.com/ When I put in your May to July dates and then the September ones it says 87 days in total.