It happened! We submitted documents for a Schengen visa, received the long-awaited passport with a visa and now we can go on a trip. However, here many people have questions: “How many days can you stay in the Schengen countries with a Schengen visa? How to correctly count the days of stay in the Schengen countries with a Schengen multiple entry visa, so as not to violate entry/exit rules?

Let's talk!

With tourist multivisas issued for a short period, everything is extremely simple and clear. The length of the permitted period of stay in the Schengen countries will be indicated on the visa. For example, we have a type C mult visa in our passport. In this case, the visa type indicates the purpose of our stay, i.e. We are going to the Schengen countries for tourism purposes. And mult (multiple visa) means that we can enter and exit multiple times into the territory of all member countries of the Schengen Agreement.

In addition to this data, the visa will indicate the dates during which the visa is valid and the period, number of days during which you can stay in the territory of the Schengen countries.

In the photo below, the validity period of the Schengen multiple visa type C is from May 29, 2015, to June 11, 2015. And in the column “duration of stay” the number of days during which we can stay in the Schengen zone is indicated. In our case it is 12 days. These two fields, the validity period of the visa and the number of allowed days of stay in the Schengen zone, should not be confused. In our example, 14 days, from May 29 to June 11, is the validity period of the visa, during which we can enter the territory of the Schengen countries multiple times, but we can only spend 12 out of 14 days in the Schengen zone.

The last day of departure from the Schengen zone must be the last day indicated on the visa. In our case, this is June 11 until 23:59 hours. And accordingly, the first day of entry may be May 29, starting at 00:00.

The decision on how long a visa will be issued, for a single trip or long-term, depends solely on the decision of the consulate, and we cannot influence this decision in any way. However, in order to somehow increase your chances of obtaining a Schengen multiple entry visa for a long period of time, when submitting documents you must observe a number of subtleties. But we'll talk about this another time. For those interested, .

For example, another option for a multiple visa. The photo below shows a Schengen visa with a six-month validity interval, from 03/24/2016 to 09/23/2016 and the allowed amount of time spent in the Schengen zone, 90 days during the validity period of the visa, with the right to multiple entries into the territory of the countries participating in the Schengen agreement.

With visas issued for a short period, everything is simple. Then in "long-term" multiple entry visas(1, 2 year olds, etc.) have their pitfalls. Thus, Schengen multiple visas issued for a long period have a limitation on the period of stay in the territory of the Schengen countries, which, as a general rule, is no more than 90 days during a 180-day period. This means that a visa can be issued for a year, two, or at least five years (the total validity period of the visa), and you can only stay in the Schengen zone for 90 days (unless a different period is specified in the visa) for every 180 days (permitted period of stay in Schengen countries).

Visa corridor. In accordance with this corridor, visas can be divided into two types: with and without a corridor. The first includes visas whose validity period is longer than the allowed number of days of stay in the Schengen countries. For example, a six-month visa is issued for 180 days - this is its corridor. But you can stay in Schengen countries with such a visa for a maximum of 90 days. An annual visa has a visa corridor of 360 days. During this time, you can come to the Schengen zone twice, 90 days in every 180 days.

A visa without a corridor is one whose validity period and time of stay in the Schengen countries coincide. The duration of stay in the Schengen countries on such a visa is equal to the validity period of the visa. That is, if you received a tourist visa for 18 days, then you can stay in the Schengen zone for the same 18 days.

The photo shows an example of a Schengen visa without a corridor. Here the validity period of the visa and the period of stay in the Schengen zone coincide

The general Schengen rule, by default: 180/90, i.e. the total period of stay in the Schengen zone cannot be more than 90 days in any 180-day period!!! And these are not calendar six months, but “floating” 180 days.

Now let's look at it, ?

If we want to check whether we have violated the rules of stay, and whether we still have possible days to travel to the Schengen zone,

1. Count back 180 days ( Pay special attention - not 6 months, but 180 days! ) from the planned date of entry into the Schengen territory (or any other date for verification).

3. If the number of days turns out to be less than 90, then everything is fine, there are still days left for possible stay in the Schengen zone.

If we want to calculate whether our planned trip will exceed 90 days in a 180-day period. We count back 180 days from the last day of the planned stay in the Schengen territory, that is, from the planned day of departure from the Schengen zone. Next, we also calculate the number of days already spent in the Schengen zone for the resulting 180-day period using the entry/exit stamps in the passport. To the total days obtained, we add the duration of the planned trip, and if the number of days turns out to be less than 90, or equal to that, then you can go. If the total number of days exceeds 90, then it is necessary to adjust plans, reduce the duration of the trip or wait the necessary time.

For simplicity and/or verification of calculations, you can use a special calculator from the European Commission website. Only it has some limitations; it gives correct calculations only in cases where the number of days of stay is calculated to be 90; if you have a visa for 45, 30, etc., then you need to calculate it yourself. You also need to remember that this calculator is only an auxiliary tool, and calculations made with its help do not provide the right to stay in the Schengen area for the period calculated using the calculator.

Only in this way can you check whether the calculation results will not exceed 90 days in each 180-day period.

If the break between trips to the Schengen zone was 3 months or longer (90 days or more), then 180 days do not need to be counted.

The days of entry and exit into the Schengen zone are also considered a full day of stay, even if you entered Schengen at 23:59.

You will find all the stamps with the dates of entry and exit for calculating the days you are in the Schengen zone in your passport. Such seals are placed on the borders:

To summarize, here are a few general Schengen visa rules that may come in handy:

90 days within 180 days is the maximum period of stay in the Schengen area for citizens of states not included in it.

A visa should be obtained from the consulate not of the country through which you are entering the Schengen zone, but of the one where you intend to spend more time. So, if you are going to relax in Spain for a couple of weeks, and before that you decide to visit relatives in Germany for a week, then you need to get Schengen in Spanish. But if you spent a week with relatives in Germany and a week at sea in Spain, that is, an equal number of days in both countries, then the rule of first entry already comes into force and in this case you need to obtain a German Schengen.

That’s probably all you need to know in order to understand how many days you can stay in the Schengen countries with a Schengen visa and how to correctly count days on a Schengen visa. Knowing and following these simple rules, you can be absolutely sure that you will not violate exit/exit visa rules.

When applying for a Schengen visa, many more different questions may arise, precisely in order to facilitate the process of obtaining visas, there is an article on our website, read it and you will no longer have almost all the questions that arose before.

P.S. According to individual counting of days, the blog authors do not answer questions anymore. Any service has its price; we spend our time and energy on calculations. We can do the calculation for a fee. Thanks for understanding!