Since Brexit, travel within the EU has become more challenging for vanlifers. Without an EU passport or specific visa, you’ll need to abide to the 90 in 180 day Schengen restrictions. Calculating the Schengen zone 90 days in 180 days rule can be tricky, but breaking it down into clear, step-by-step logic can help ensure that you stay within the legal limits. Here’s a detailed guide:
Step 1: Understanding the basic 90 in 180 day rule
The rule states that you can stay in the Schengen zone for up to 90 days within any rolling 180-day period. This means you need to track your travel dates and ensure that within any period of 180 days, you do not exceed 90 days of stay.
Step 2: Track your entry and exit dates
Record of all your entries into and exits from the Schengen zone.
This should include:
Date of entry
Date of exit
Step 3: Defining the rolling 180 day period
For each day you are in the Schengen zone, you need to consider the preceding 180 days to determine if you are within the 90-day limit.
Step 4: Calculate days stayed in each 180 day period
For any given date:
Identify the 180-day window that ends on that date.
Count the total number of days spent in the Schengen zone during that 180-day period.
Step 5: Check you are compliant
Ensure that at no point does the total number of days spent in the Schengen zone during any 180-day period exceed 90 days.
Looking at calculations in more detail:
Here’s a more detailed step-by-step calculation process:
Collect Travel Data:
List all your travel dates into and out of the Schengen zone.
Example:Entry: 1st January
Exit: 20th January
Entry: 1st March
Exit: 20th March
Determine the relevant 180 day period:
For each day during your stay, look back 180 days.
Example: For a stay on 1st July, the 180-day period is from 2nd January to 1st July.
Count the days stayed in the 180 day period:
For each day in the Schengen zone, count all the days spent in the Schengen zone during the preceding 180 days.
Example: If you are checking for the 1st July: Count days from 2nd January to 1st July. Include all the days you were in the Schengen zone within this range.
Combine the total days:
Calculate the total days counted in the previous step. Ensure that this sum does not exceed 90 days at any point.
Example Calculation:
Entry: 1st January
Exit: 20th January
Entry: 1st March
Exit: 20th March
Entry: 1st June
Exit: 30th June
Checking Stay on 30th June:
Relevant 180 day period: 2nd January to 30th June.
Days Counted:
1st January to 20th January: 20 days
1st March to 20th March: 20 days
1st June to 30th June: 30 days
Total Days in Schengen zone:
20 (Jan) + 20 (Mar) + 30 (Jun) = 70 days
In this example, you are within the 90-day limit for the 180 day period ending on 30th June.
