The key facts

  • Third-country nationals may stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; the limit works on a rolling basis and does not reset every six months.
  • The Entry/Exit System (EES), fully applied since April, automatically detects violators; the remaining days can be checked on its website.
  • Penalties for overstaying vary: in Germany — up to €3,000, and a re-entry ban for months or years is possible.

Short-stay rules in the Schengen area

The outlet Euronews explains the 'short-stay' rules for third-country nationals: the maximum length of stay in the Schengen area is 90 days in any 180-day period. The author of the piece, a Briton who voted against leaving the EU, notes that after Brexit counting days has become 'almost an obsession' for him. The Schengen area covers 29 countries: 25 of the 27 EU member states (including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) and four non-EU countries — Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Cyprus and Ireland remain outside the area. Nationals of a number of countries, such as China, Indonesia, India and the Philippines, need a visa to enter, while residents of the UK, the USA, Australia and New Zealand do not require one; full lists are published on the EU legislation website.

The 'Schengen shuffle' and the rolling day count

Euronews describes a practice that travellers call the 'Schengen shuffle': people alternate trips to Schengen area countries and outside it in order to stay within the limit without leaving Europe. The outlet stresses that the 90-in-180 rule does not 'reset' every six months but works on a rolling basis: you need to look at the last 180 days and count how many of them were spent in the area, and as time passes individual days return to the limit.

The EES system and checking remaining days

The Entry/Exit System (EES), which Euronews calls 'widely criticised', was launched last year and has been fully applied since April; its purpose is to automatically detect those who stay longer than permitted. Days can be tracked manually, but the permitted length of stay can also be checked on the EES website: the user enters passport details, the expected dates of the next trip and the destination country, after which the site shows the remaining days at the moment of entry and exit.

Liability for overstaying

According to Euronews, penalties for violators differ from country to country. In some states, for example in Germany, a fine of up to €3,000 is possible; other countries may ban re-entry for several months or even several years. In addition, at the next attempt to enter, tougher border checks are likely, and entry may be refused.