GuideSchengen
The 90/180 rule for UK citizens after Brexit
Since 1 January 2021, UK citizens can spend at most 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, visa-free. The allowance is shared across all 29 Schengen countries, it never resets when you leave, and staying past 90 days requires a national long-stay visa from one specific country. Days in Ireland do not count.
How long can UK citizens stay in the EU?
UK citizens can spend at most 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, visa-free. This has been the position since 1 January 2021, when the Brexit transition period ended and UK nationals became third-country nationals under EU law. The 90 days are counted across a rolling 180-day window, both the entry day and the exit day count in full, and the allowance never resets just because you leave.
Before 2021, UK citizens had free movement and could stay indefinitely. The adjustment has been hardest for people whose lives were built on the old rules: owners of holiday homes in Spain and France, retirees who wintered in the south, and families used to spending whole summers in Europe. For all of them, the six-month stay that used to be routine is now double the legal limit.
Note that the rule is about the Schengen area, not the EU as such. Non-EU countries like Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are inside Schengen and count toward your 90 days. EU member Ireland is outside Schengen and does not count, and EU member Cyprus is not yet a Schengen state as of July 2026.
Does the rule apply per country or to the whole Schengen area?
The whole area. All 29 Schengen countries share one 90-day allowance, so days spent in Spain, France, Italy or any other member state all draw from the same budget. Moving from Spain to Portugal does not start a new count, because there is no border check between them and no separate allowance to move to.
This is the misunderstanding that catches the most UK travelers. Ninety days in Spain followed by a drive across to Portugal for another ninety is not a loophole, it is a 90-day overstay, and since the EU Entry/Exit System went fully live on 10 April 2026 every crossing in and out of the area is recorded digitally against your passport. What the record shows is total presence in the area, wherever you slept.
How long can I stay in Spain, France or Portugal?
Visa-free, 90 days in any 180, shared with every other Schengen country you visit in the same window. Owning property changes nothing: a second home in Alicante or the Dordogne comes with no extra days attached. The route past 90 days is a national long-stay visa or residence permit from the one country you want to settle into for the season:
| Country | Visa-free stay | Route past 90 days |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 90 in 180, shared area-wide | Non-lucrative visa: proof of passive income and health insurance, no local employment allowed |
| France | 90 in 180, shared area-wide | Long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur): income proof, insurance, a promise not to work in France |
| Portugal | 90 in 180, shared area-wide | Residence visas such as the D7 for people living on pensions or other passive income |
Two things about these visas surprise applicants. First, they are national: a Spanish non-lucrative visa lets you live in Spain, while your travel to the rest of the Schengen area remains capped at 90/180. Second, they can carry tax consequences, because spending more than 183 days in one country generally makes you tax resident there. Our 183-day rule guide covers what that threshold means before you commit to a long-stay visa.
Plan the winter before you book it
The free Schengen calculator applies the rolling 180-day window to your trips and shows your remaining days and earliest return date.
Do trips to Ireland count toward the 90 days?
No. Ireland is not part of the Schengen area, so days spent there never count toward your 90. UK citizens also hold separate rights in Ireland under the Common Travel Area, which predates EU membership: they can live, work and study in Ireland without any permission or day limit at all.
The same exclusion applies to other non-Schengen neighbors. Days in the UK itself, the Channel Islands, or countries like Albania, Serbia and Turkey do not touch your Schengen count. Some long-stay travelers use these as places to wait out the window: spend your 90 days in Spain, then let the count age out from Dublin or Istanbul rather than from home.
Will ETIAS change this?
No. ETIAS, the EU travel authorization expected to start in the last quarter of 2026, adds a pre-travel approval step and a fee of 20 euros, but it does not change the 90/180 day limit. UK citizens will apply online before travel and the authorization will be valid for up to three years, with the same 90 days in any 180 once inside.
The details, including the transitional period and who is exempt from the fee, are in our ETIAS and the 90/180 rule guide.
How do I count my days as a UK citizen?
The same way everyone else does: on any day, look back 180 days and total your days of presence in the whole Schengen area, counting entry and exit days in full. The count must never exceed 90. Here is how it plays out for the most common UK pattern, a second-home owner wintering in Spain.
Wintering in Spain on exactly 90 days
A retired couple from Leeds own a flat near Malaga. They fly out on 1 October 2026 and want to stay as long as the law allows:
| Step | Dates | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Winter stay | 1 Oct to 29 Dec 2026 | 31 + 30 + 29 = 90 of 90 used |
| Back in the UK | 30 Dec 2026 to 29 Mar 2027 | Old days begin aging out of the window |
| Earliest return | 30 Mar 2027 | Window 2 Oct 2026 to 30 Mar 2027 holds 89 old days + 1 new = 90 |
| Spring stay | 30 Mar to 27 Jun 2027 | Another 90 days, each legal as an old day drops out |
October has 31 days, November 30, and day 90 lands on 29 December 2026, so Christmas in Spain works but New Year does not. After flying home on 29 December, the earliest legal return is 30 March 2027, exactly 91 days later, when the 1 October day has aged out of the window. From there they can stay through 27 June 2027. The pattern gives them roughly half the year at the flat, in two blocks, which is the practical ceiling without a Spanish visa.
One warning on top of the arithmetic: any other Schengen trip changes it. A ski week in France in February 2027 would push the earliest Spain return back and shorten the spring block, because France and Spain share the same allowance. This is where manual counting breaks down, and where automatic tracking earns its keep.
Staydays logs which country you are in each day using low-power background location, recalculates the rolling 180-day window daily, and warns you before you approach 90. The day log stays on your iPhone and in your private iCloud, and you can export it if a border officer or accountant ever asks.
Track your 90 days automatically
Staydays counts your Schengen days in the background and shows the earliest date you can go back.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ. Confirm details with official sources or a qualified advisor.
Last updated: 2026-07-14