Do the Schengen Shuffle

I have about 30 months left here in Hungary, and then I may then find myself in a predicament.

Fortunately Hungary has a non-Schengen land border, two actually. Both of them are 90 in 180 day stay countries for US passport holders. When dealing with 90 in 180 countries since both countries count arrival and departure day you really end up with 88 in 180 max possible. Well, over an extended periid of time that puts you into this diminishing time mess that requires a Schengen calculator to solve. Better to use 3 countries ... The 3 closest that work are Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine. The only one that excites me is Ukraine but I could pair it with a week in Moldova and things would work. Fly Budapest to Chișinău On Wizzair, drive to Odesa and do the summer on the beach. Then return to Chișinău to fly back to Budapest.

But there is Albania which apparently will let you do 365 days in and then 90 out and then 365 days in again. All this without claiming you as a tax resident. Great cheap airfare between Tirana and Budapest. So that's going to get more research in this summer or fall. Things like which city, town or village, local medical, housing in a location where all the support functions are walks (groceries, restaurant, entertainment, basic medical).

Does the US have reciprocal immigration agreements? Australia has quite a few in place with Schengen zone countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands to name a few) that allow you to stay 180 days in that country, rather than 90.

Simon. Not that I am aware of. It would be great if anyone knows of a place for a US citizen that allows more than 90 days. So far Albania is the only one I have confirmed and I still can't believe they wont tax you after 180 days.

The US does not have any type of agreement with any EU or Schengen country that would allow US passport holders to stay more than 90 in 180 without a visa.

Supposedly, Denmark will allow US citizens to stay up to 180 days but I'm not sure if it's an agreement made with the US government.

FrankII, I read its in Denmarks Schengen treaty language. I always worried about how it would be enforced in another country when they ran your passport. But maybe I worry for nothing.

That was my concern especially now with EES and everything is digital.

But there is Georgia which apparently will let you do 365 days in and then 1 day out and then 365 days in again. All this without claiming you as a tax resident. Great cheap airfare between Georgia and Budapest. So that's going to get more research in this summer or fall. Things like which city, town or village, local medical, housing in a location where all the support functions are walks (groceries, restaurant, entertainment, basic medical).

The deal with Denmark works only if you leave Denmark and go directly to a non-Schengen country. All that extra time in Denmark puts you over 90 days if you try to go to another Schengen country soon. It seems very useful for a once-a-year traveler looking for a longer trip, but I don't see how it would help someone wanting to live in Europe year-round and spend most of that time in Schengen countries.

The deal with Denmark works only if you leave Denmark

... probably absolutely correct, but for the life of me, 15 minutes of googling this morning I couldnt find one statment that says Denmark is anything more than 90 in 180. I did find language that said something about Denmark having to enforce Schengen under International Law, not EU law and as a result didnt get to vote on Schengen issues. We understand the implication of that ... what?

I've been able in the past to findinfo about the Schengen loophole online. I'm nearly certain it was on the website of the Danish Embassy in rhe US.

I searched for 30 min and struck out. I even found a detailed explanation of the special conditions of Schengen with them and it didn't mention it. Doesn't mean a thing. I just havent found it. And I suspect you would have to use it on the way out of schengen and not return to any schengen country until you were 100% clear of the 90 in 180 for all, including Denmark .... or not.