Time limit for non-EU citizens in the EU

Hi Denny! Lots of calculators out there but I've heard this is a good one: https://www.visa-calculator.com/
Calculating the days can be a bit tricky as it's a "rolling" 90 of 180 days. If you are only in Europe 2 months a year, you should never have a problem. Hope this is helpful!

Your Dec 24 and Jan 25 time would equal 62 days if you were inside the EU the entirety of those two months. Then you were there in March. You don’t say how long in March you were inside the EU. It would seem you did not exceed 90 days cumulatively for those 3 months because when you exited, passport control did not flag you as overstaying the 90-day limit.
If you did overstay, the issue would have been raised and you could have been fined hundreds of euros for every day you exceeded the limit, and in some cases, thousands of euros per overstay. Those who overstay a substantial amount of time— say, more than a week—can be barred from re-entering the EU in the future.
The consequences of overstaying even a day or two can be severe. And someone claiming they didn’t know is not going to be a valid excuse.

Do not be cavalier with counting days. As travel records become automated you run the risk of fines at the very least. I’ve been questioned closely when arriving in Europe with a passport full of entry/exit stamps. Before I got a year long residency Visa, I had to get a Visa to go back to France to receive my Visa. There are various apps that allow you compute the number of days spent in country.

If you have aspirations of long term stays in Europe DO NOT mess around with this process.

What happens to those who "go over"? Are they simply refused entry? Or assessed a penalty (upon departure?). Is there an online calculator so that one is "safe" and does not overstay?

It depends, Denny. It can result in deportation, fines, inability to re-enter a country, and in some cases, imprisonment. Here's a website that gives much more detail: https://3cglobalgroup.com/blog/have-you-overstayed-the-90-day-limit-risks-of-overstaying-your-stay-in-the-schengen-zone-of-europe-as-a-non-eu-citizen

The first thing we need to do is to change the EU to Schengen. It is not the EU that has these limits but countries within the Schengen Agreement.

All but two EU countries--Ireland and Cyprus--are in Schengen. Two territories that are technically part of Denmark--the Faroe Islands and Greenland--are also not in Schengen.

There are also non-EU countries in Schengen: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

You are allowed 90 days within any 180 period. Go over that and you wil be fined and possibly banned from Schengen for many years.

When I entered Schengen last month, and told the border police officer how long I was staying, she asked if I did the math to make sure I was not going over. I told her I had.

Considering what you wrote, your 180 day limit from leaving Schengen in March is over. You have a clean slate.

I spend a good 7-8 months a year in Europe. I make sure that I stay within the rules and spend the extra time in non-Schengen areas.

The 3cglobalgroup blog linked above is outdated. Romania and Bulgaria are now Schengen countries, alas.

This is so helpful, this discussion. It's been in the back of my mind for some time.

Thanks for making the distinctions between calendar year (2025) and rolling 180 days (the previous six months, I assume).

If I arrive in Paris on December 15, the latter rule would, accordingly mean that I have from June 15 as my starting point to do the calculation. I've been once to the Schengen Zone (September 30 - October 30). The previous trips (March 26-April 24 and December 17, 2024-January 16, 2025) would not count.

But does this mean I need to be concerned about and to calculate the future trip into the "equation" (December 14, 2025 to January 15, 2026)?

I am already planning a trip in mid-March (for a month, as usual) to Italy, so my head is spinning wondering how much time I can spend there. "Backtracking in time," that would mean, I now assume, that I could not stay any longer than maybe 29 days (?) because the two previous trips would "count against" me. Leaving on April 15, 2026, I would have to ensure that from October 15, 2025 until that day, I had stayed no longer than 90 days?!

It's kind of nerve-wracking to think about. I always fly Delta but their website will only list a current/upcoming trip and not a past history.

I just inputted my dates into the visa calculator.

Why does it say that I can stay only through December 28, 2025?

Date of Entry 30-09-2025
Date of Exit 31-10-2025
Days of Stay 32
Days of Stay in the Last 180 Days 32
Last Day to Stay 28-12-2025

OK. You can stay for 58 days more, until 28-12-2025.

If you re-enter the Schengen area on 30-01-2026, you can stay 90 days until 29-04-2026.

I just inputted my dates into the visa calculator.
Why does it say that I can stay only through December 28, 2025?
Date of Entry 30-09-2025
Date of Exit 31-10-2025
Days of Stay 32
Days of Stay in the Last 180 Days 32
Last Day to Stay 28-12-2025
OK. You can stay for 58 days more, until 28-12-2025.
If you re-enter the Schengen area on 30-01-2026, you can stay 90 days until 29-04-2026.

You have already spent 32 out of your 90 day allotment by 31 October 2025. After 31 October 2025 until 31 December 2025, there are 62 days. But 32+61 = 93 days, which is 3 days over the 90 day limit when looking back at the last 180 days. So you can only stay 90-32 = 58 days in the Schengen zone in oder to be compliant with the rules. Remember that your arrival day (even if you arrive 1 minute before midnight) counts as a full day and your departure date (even if you leave a minute after midnight) counts as a full day.

I am sure someone someone suggested it above, but use one of the many Schengen calculators online. Actually, use two just to be sure.

You have already spent 32 out of your 90 day allotment by 31 October 2025. After 31 October 2025 until 31 December 2025, there are 62 days. But 32+61 = 93 days, which is 3 days over the 90 day limit when looking back at the last 180 days. So you can only stay 90-32 = 58 days in the Schengen zone in oder to be compliant with the rules.

I guess I'm rusty with arithmetic here. I will arrive on December 15, 2025. Counting 180 days backwards from that day gives June 15. During that time I will have spent 31 or 32 days in the Schengen zone. The day I leave is scheduled for January 15, 2026. Counting backwards 180 days from then gives July 15, 2015. I will have stayed a total of 62 or 63 days.

Where is the error in this "reckoning"?

I will not have been staying continuously in the Schengen zone from from October 31 through December 2025.

I do make efforts at double checking or triple checking my trip duration only in Schengen, I count the days down almost to the max permitted, 90 out of 180. Last summer my duration in Schengen from the date of entry stamped upon arrival in CDG was 87 days, obviously leaving 2 days as cushion, so to speak.

This summer admittedly due to bad judgement I flew out on day 85 ( to SFO ) from the date of entry stamped in CDG. At Immigration after going through the tech stuff, ie face recognition, etc and am instructed to approach the Immigration officer, hand over the passport , they swiped it and then it's stamped ..... I got what I wanted , that passport stamp.

My intention is to stay at least 9 consecutive weeks. AT CDG I have never been asked how long I am staying.

And this is exactly what the new EES system does - makes it much easier for authorities to know when you have entered and when you have left. Overstayers are going to be much more easily found.

and rolling 180 days (the previous six months, I assume).

No, no, no. It's 180 days - not six months.

(Yes, 180 days may be roughly equal to six months. But roughly doesn't matter here. Counting numbers of days (and any portions thereof, as Mary pointed out) matters here.)

I guess I'm rusty with arithmetic here. I will arrive on December 15,
2025. Counting 180 days ...

Denny,

https://schengenareacalculator.com/

https://ec.europa.eu/assets/home/visa-calculator/calculator.htm?lang=en

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/border-crossing/short-stay-calculator_en

The overstay penalties can be fines and a 5 year banishment from entering the Schengen. I would be very careful about how long I stayed in the Schengen zone. The last time I exited France a few weeks ago, the immigration agent was looking for my entrance stamp to calculate the duration of my stay. Any portion of one day, even if its only an hour, counts as a full day in the Schengen zone. Give yourself plenty of leeway.

I’m finding the arithmetic complicated and confusing, in actual practice. By my own calculations, leaving on January 15, 2016, I will not have exceeded 90 days out of the immediately prior 180 days.

First of all, the calculator is wrong and so are your calculations.

Go back to the March to April dates. The 180 day period ended in the middle of October. Those days have disappeared from the current calculation.

Look at your entrance date in September. Figure out what 180 days is past that entrance date. Within that time period, you can stay 90 days. So between September 30 and say March 30 (again, that's not the exact date but a ballpark date), you can stay 90 days. After March 30, the 180 day period starts to shift.

You've already stayed 30 days (Approx) so you have about 60 days left--(Again, you have to figure out the exact date.) until the end of March. Past that date, and you start to no longer count the stay in October as the 180 day time period has shifted. This changes one day at a time.