The Schengen 90/180 rule for US travellers

US citizens can visit the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The 90 days are shared across all 29 Schengen countries, the day you arrive and the day you leave both count, and the 180-day period is counted back from each day of your trip, so it never resets on a fixed date. Longer stays need a visa or residence permit from the country you are staying in.

What is the rule for US citizens?

The U.S. Embassy in Greece puts it this way: "A U.S. citizen may remain in any Schengen country (or travel between various Schengen countries) as a tourist for up to 90 days in a 180-day period without a visa."

The rule comes from the EU's Schengen Borders Code, which allows stays of "no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which entails considering the 180-day period preceding each day of stay". It applies the same way to tourism, business meetings and visiting family.

For how the rolling count works day by day, see the 90/180 rule explained.

Which countries count?

The 29 Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The United Kingdom, Ireland and Cyprus are not in the Schengen area, and the European Commission confirms that time there does not count towards your 90 days. A week in London or Dublin in the middle of a long trip is a week that does not use up Schengen days.

How does it work for a summer in Europe and a trip back for the holidays?

You spend 1 June to 14 August 2027 travelling through Italy, France and Spain. That is 75 days, which leaves 15.

• Go back before mid-November and you have those 15 days and no more.
• From 13 November 2027 you can stay a full 90 days, because the June days start dropping out of the 180-day window while you are there. Arrive on 10 December for the holidays and you could stay until 8 March 2028.

There is nothing special about 1 January. Your allowance does not reset with the calendar year.

Does leaving for a few days reset the 90 days?

No. A weekend in London or Morocco does not restart anything. The days you spent in the Schengen area stay in the count until 180 days have passed since each one. The Commission's guidance notes the one clean case: an uninterrupted absence of 90 days always allows a new stay of up to 90 days.

What are bilateral agreements?

Some Schengen countries signed visa waiver agreements with the United States before they joined the Schengen area, and EU law lets them keep applying those agreements. The Commission's calculator manual explains that US nationals, "depending on the continued application of the agreement by the Schengen State", may be able to stay in such a country for the period in the bilateral agreement, "on top of the general 90 days stay in the Schengen area". It adds that applying these old agreements is a possibility for each country, "but this is not an obligation".

Three points from EU law are worth knowing before you rely on one:

• You have to ask for it. The extension is granted on request, made to that country's authorities on entry or during your stay, no later than the last working day of your 90 days.
• It covers that country only. You are authorised to stay only on that country's territory.
• You must leave from that country's own external border. Flying home with a connection through another Schengen country can turn the extra time into an overstay there.

The Commission published a list of the agreements each country had notified in the EU's Official Journal in April 2019. The list is linked in the sources below. It is several years old and practice varies, so confirm with the embassy of the country concerned before you plan around it. The EU's own calculator does not take these agreements into account.

What do I need at the border?

The U.S. Embassy in Italy says: "Your passports must be valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned date of departure from the Schengen area. A 6-month validity is recommended." Under the Schengen rules the passport must also have been issued within the previous 10 years.

Passports are no longer stamped. Since 10 April 2026 the EU's Entry/Exit System registers US citizens with a photo and fingerprints and records every entry and exit, so your days are counted automatically.

ETIAS, a travel authorisation that US citizens will need to apply for online before travelling, had not started when this page was last reviewed.

What happens if I overstay?

Penalties are set by each country. The EU lists removal, fines or detention, and being prevented from re-entering. The U.S. Embassy in Greece notes that fines there for overstaying the visa-free period run from €600 to €1,200. The overstay is also recorded in the Entry/Exit System, where border and visa officers can see it.

How Schengen Simple helps

If you visit Europe once a year for two weeks, you do not need an app. If you spend long stretches there, go back and forth, or have a trip booked that you are planning around, the count gets hard quickly. Schengen Simple takes your past and planned trips and shows how long you could stay from any date, so the autumn trip does not quietly use the days your winter trip needs.