Schengen Zone time limit question

I think it's accurate to think of it as a rolling 180 days. On any given day, you're okay if you spend no more than 90 of 180 days in Schengen. If you spent the last 90 days in UK, you start having days available for Schengen. If the days are broken up, you might have to track them carefully to stay on the right side of Schengen rules.

Of course all of that's for travel without a visa. If you're close, why not request a visa? I haven't had one for awhile but, when I used to order them, the normal was for up to six month visits.

The most likely downside of violating Schengen is being essentially un-invited to visit the area for five or ten years. That's a risk I wouldn't willingly take and would opt for the certainty of a visa If I knew I might be close.

It is a rolling 90 days in 180. You have to wait until one of your 90 days is 181 days ago, so you then only have 89 days in the last 180, so you can go back in. But if at any time you reach 90 days in the last 180, you must leave.

Click here for a calculator to work out your days. This is the official EU website, it is therefore "authoritative". I don't know what you mean by "the government pages", but I would only trust the people who make the rules - i.e. the EU.

1) Yes, both arrival and departure days count.
2) All countries are equally strict.

Nicely put by Chris F.

Don't try to game the system and don't look for the weak link. This is the days of biometric passports and computers.

Very simple.

Every day count back 180 days. Note the date. Then count up the number of days and partial days that you have been in the Schengen Zone. You have to count days that you have, between midnight and midnight, been in the Schengen Zone as little as one minute. If you are scheduled to leave at 2355 but you don't until 0001 you get another day.

Then ask yourself, have you within any 180 days been in the Schengen Zone less than 90 days. If yes you are good for another. If no, you are in trouble. Simples.

"If you are scheduled to leave at 2355 but you don't until 0001 you get another day." - Probably not, because your passport was stamped when you went through passport control, which was ~23:00 or earlier.
Now, if your flight was cancelled, and the airline has to put you up in an hotel until the next flight the following day, do they refuse to let you back through passport control because you have run out of days? There must be some leeway for such cases.

I guess to answer your questions from a different angle...If by "I was only in the Schengen countries 90 of the last 180 days, but they happened to be the last 90 days", then you need to leave. As others stated, look at it as of the last 180 how many have been in the Schengen zone. If more than 90, trouble, if less, then you have that many days plus whatever may drop off during your stay. Any part of a day counts as a day.

Does strictness vary? I imagine it does, you are relying on a border agent to use judgement, I suppose one might overlook something close, but another may raise an issue if you are even close and under the limit. My point would be that typically when you are leaving, trying to catch a flight, the last thing you want is a delay while they try to figure it out. It probably also varies if it is a land border vs an airport, I recall going to the Czech republic before they were Schengen, all that was required was a wave of your passport as you drove through the border crossing, and Croatia today is in a middle zone where they sometimes count days in, sometimes out. All said, I would not push it to the day and have a few documents backing you up, especially if you were "in and out" of the zone. If you are asking knowing that you are over, be prepared to pay the piper. Several personal experiences have been related on here and other boards where people were over and suffered fines, worst case they can block re-entry for 10 years or so, but have never really heard of that being imposed.

Finally, if you are playing the "Schengen Game", manipulating your stay between the Schengen Zone and the UK to extend your stay indefinitely, I would err on the side of the UK, they allow you 6 months, potentially, plus some leeway on length when you re-enter, so no real reason to play the Schengen days to the hour.

Is this a hypothetical planning question or a I've just discovered that I am over, what do I do now question?

Actually, based on your question early in 2014 when you were trying to work out how to stay for a very long trip, I wonder if this is that very long trip you were planning?

Thank you, everyone for helping with this. I was in the Schengen for 73 days, then in UK for 79 days. I have just returned to Schengen. Can one of you clear headed folks help me apply the above instructions on how long I can legally remain in the Schengen Zone before departing. Thank you very much for confirming how to proceed correctly.

I have been in Schengen 73, out for 79. That gives me 17 days left in max. After going out for 11, may I safely return to the Schengen Zone? Thank you for your help in clarifying.

Based on the experience of someone I know, I'll try to add a little clarification and a caution. Omitting the irrelevant details, this person found himself unable to get his visa before leaving for a 6 month stay in Italy. He returned to the U.S. for professional reasons, and was nabbed, on return, when he had to change planes in Zurich. He was immediately taken into custody and subsequently was put on a plane to the U.S. He spent the next 5 weeks getting the visa. When he and his wife were ready to return to the U.S., she was worried because, since you have to apply in person, she still didn't have the visa. Her passport was given a cursory glance and stamped. No probem. So much for equal strictness. The speculation by these folks is 1) the Swiss are stricter than the Italians; and 2) agents at large, international airports like Zurich are more careful than those at small regional ones, like Florence.
Anyone trying to game the rules should note that the relatively light consequences for this person were the cost of another plane ticket, and 5 weeks of stress. They could have included a 500 euro fine and being banned for up to 10 years.

On first look, it would seem you have 17 days left. However...it may get more complicated.

Seventeen more days gives you 90 Schengen days in the previous 180 days. But...day 181 isn't counted in the previous 180 so Day 1 is gone and day 181 takes its place.

Therefore, you may have 90 days.......

But...if I were you....I'd go ask someone official wherever you might be.

And if anyone else here sees a mistake, let me know.

in response to your numbers posted...

It looks as though you first entered the Schengen zone 152 days ago, so all 73 days in the Schengen zone count towards your 90.

That leaves 17 days available, but 28 days until your first days in the Schengen zone start to drop off. So yes, you need to be somewhere else for 11 days. After that a Day drops off the front, and you can stay another day for most of your 90 days.

I would not try to cut it to the day though, why not spend two weeks (14 days) in the UK or Ireland and give yourself a buffer in case your math is faulty or you missed a partial day? I would also have your transport receipts or an itinerary available, that way if asked, you can quote your entry and exit dates and provide them with the number of days if questioned, as opposed to them having to look up your entry records. I was in Germany for only 10 days recently, but on exit was delayed because the border agent could not find my entry stamp. I showed him my itinerary with my arrival date and the flight I was headed to...he sent me through.

73 days in Schengen (17 days remaining) plus
79 days out puts you at a total of 152 in Europe. When you go back to Schengen, you start using your remaining 17 days. When those 17 days are over, you are at a total of 169 in Europe, but you are out of Schengen time and must be gone. The 180 day window from your first entry ends eleven days later, but you can't go back until some of your "used" days drop off the other end. A new 90 day window doesn't begin on day 181, as you are assuming. As someone else mentioned, it is a rolling window. On day 181, your original entry date drops off, but you still have used 89 days out of that 180. On day 182, you now have used 88 days. As your days out of Shengen drop off, you gain usable days again.

Complicating that, if you go back to use those last 17 days, you start an additional entry which runs for 180 days, so if you were to go back 30 days later, you would have only 30 days to use (at which point, you have used 47 days of the next 180 window). In short, the only way to reset to 90 days is to be out for 90 days.

The calculator provided by Chris F in the second answer can do the calculations based on exact entry and exit dates, and provide projections or the equivalent of control. That's the place to go, IMHO.