Last Updated on March 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi
Question about the 90 day rule
Does the 90 day rule run from January to December or in any 12 month period?
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
”It’s a rolling 90 days in 180. The 90 days starts when you enter a Schengen country”
”A rolling 180 days”
”It’s a rolling 90/180. You’re best downloading the Schenghen app. This is a screen shot of the app. It works it out for you. All you have to do is put your dates in”
”If you’re a U.K. resident you can legally stay in the Schengen area for 90 days in the last 180. So from today, count back 180 days (so March 20th) and you can only have stayed in the Schengen area for 90 days since then”
”It’s rolling so dates entered drop off as you move through. We’ve just spent 57 days in soain so my Schengen calader is stating i have 33 days left but by time I go back in November is accumulated more days again from the beginning”
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Start the Moving to Spain Hub →”If you come and go rather than stay for fixed periods the Shengen apps track the last rolling 180 days and lets you know what’s left useful for putting in future dates it will track those too”
”According to the 90/180-day rule, non-EU/EEA nationals can stay in EU member states of the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period. The rule applies to cumulative stays within the Schengen Area and is calculated backward from the date of entry”
In conclusion, according to Spainguru Facebook group members, it appears that the 90-day rule pertains to a maximum stay of 90 days within any given 180-day period in EU member states of the Schengen Area for non-EU/EEA nationals. This is not restricted to a calendar year from January to December but is a rolling period, calculated backward from the date of entry.
Related article: Schengen days calculation with a Digital Nomad Visa Spain
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