Schengen Rules Change

The major impact is actually directed towards people using the 90-over-180 days rule to, in practice, extend a temporary work or study visa (example: student gets a 5-month (Jan-May) exchange study visa to Italy, then quickly travels to London and returns to stay the following summer after her visa expired).

So it sounds like nothing is different for the tourist-type traveler. It just makes someone with a long-term visa unable to add the 90 days to stay past their visa.

I thought the 90-in-180 rule did not apply to those on a student visa. In other words, is it not true that a student can leave the Schengen zone at the expiration of their student visa (being sure to get an exit stamp in their passport so as to end the student visa), and then re-enter the Schengen zone as a 90-in-180 tourist? Based on my daughter's experience when she studied in France a few years ago, I think this is or at least was common practice for American students studying in Europe - and perfectly legit.

It won't be after October 18.

Tom, this was legal (though with a few caveats). Now, it won't be anymore. The main target are not students, though, but people using Schengen visitor rules to combine temporary work visas with de-facto semi-permanent residency (such as 1 year tempo work visa + 90 days stay + 90d wait outsitde Europe + 90d stay + 90d wait + second temp work visa... This had become a problem in relate of people living close to Schengen Space (North Africa, Russia, Balkans) and gaming the system as travel to/from their countries is cheap. It will, though, severely affect plans of students that come to study for one academic year and intend to travel the following summer. Maybe countries will adjust exchange student visas to cove 12, instead of the usual 8.5-9.5 months.

This many not be entirely correct. If a student visa is technically a "residence permit" the new rule would seem not to apply. I have seen this wording on several websites: " Days spent in the Schengen Area under a residence permit or long-stay visa will not against the 90-day maximum." http://www.xing.com/net/austriaconnectusa/news-685637/schengen-bestimmungen-fur-nicht-visa-reisende-nach-osterreich-prazisiert-in-englisch-44821434 http://totallyexpat.com/global-immigration-news/schengen-area-regulation-shortterm-stay-limits-calculated/

I thought the new example was how it always was supposed to work ...

Jeff, are those new links or something showing the old (current) rules?

^^ There is an additional quirk: certain Schengen visas often come with some period you can legally stay after your intended purpose ended. Some Dutch temporary visas allow up to 30 additional days so that you can move out without hurries. In Italy, some visas allow an extension of stay for 60 days.

I guess the question is whether - under the new rules - the days spent in a Schengen country on the basis of a long-stay (e.g. student) visa count when calculating the 90/180. In the "old" days, they did not. I've done a lot of Googling on this and I can't find an authoritative answer. But if Andre is correct, the new rule essentially forbids Schengen zone travel for American (& other) students coming off their student visa - because they obviously will have used up their 90 days during the term of their visa. Somehow I doubt that this is the Schengen authority's intent.

Nancy: It's the new regulations. This quote is from the lead-in to the article:
"A regulation taking effect October 18, 2013 should provide greater certainty regarding how long third-country nationals are permitted to stay within the Schengen Area."