Can I stay 90 days, leave, and come straight back?
A weekend in London, a hop to Morocco, then back for another 90 days. It's a popular idea, and it doesn't work. Here's why, with dates.
The short answer
No. Leaving the Schengen area doesn't reset your count. After 90 days in, you have no days left until the first of those days is more than 179 days in the past. After one continuous 90-day stay, that means waiting 90 days outside the area before you can come back.
The rule is 90 days in any 180-day period, and on each day you're in the area the law looks back over the 180 days ending that day. Where you went in between doesn't matter. A week in London, Montenegro or Istanbul takes nothing out of those 180 days. It just means fewer days in the area during that week.
Why the "visa run" doesn't work
A visa run is the idea that crossing out of the area and back in starts a new 90 days. Schengen doesn't work that way: there is no per-entry allowance. There's one running total, shared by all 29 Schengen countries, and it only goes down as old days leave the window.
- You spend 1 March to 29 May 2026 in France. That's 90 days, so on 29 May you've used them all.
- You fly to London on 29 May, spend a week there, and plan to arrive in Germany on 5 June for a week.
- On 5 June, the 180-day window runs back to 8 December 2025. All 90 French days are still in it.
- 5 June would be day 91. By the end of that week in Germany you'd be 7 days over.
The first day you could come back is 28 August 2026, when 1 March leaves the window. Every day in Schengen from 5 June until then would be over the limit.
Shorter back-to-back trips
If you split your time into shorter trips, what matters is whether any 180-day window ever holds more than 90 days. A pattern that looks balanced can still fail.
- You spend 1 January to 1 March 2026 in Italy: 60 days.
- You leave for 30 days and plan to come back on 1 April for another 60 days, to 30 May.
- On 1 April you have 30 days left. None of the January days leaves the window until 30 June, so nothing comes back during the second trip.
1 May would be day 91, and by 30 May you'd be 30 days over. Arriving on 1 April, the longest stay that fits is 30 days. For the second 60 days, the earliest safe start is 31 May 2026.
- Trips to Italy: 1 January to 14 February, 1 April to 15 May, 30 June to 13 August and 28 September to 11 November 2026. Each is 45 days, with 45 days out in between.
- Once the pattern is running, every 180-day window covers exactly two rounds of 45 days in and 45 days out. From the last day of the second trip on, the count sits at exactly 90 on every day you're in the area, and never passes it.
It fits, but with no margin at all. Staying just one day longer on the second trip, to 16 May, would be day 91. A delayed flight or a missed connection is enough to put you over.
What actually works
- Plan around the window, not the calendar. Work out your next day back and how long you could stay from a given date. See when can I go back to Schengen?.
- Spend the time outside the area somewhere that doesn't count. The UK, Ireland, Cyprus and Andorra don't count toward your 90, though they have their own rules. See the edge cases and UK visitor rules.
- If you want to stay longer, get the right visa. A national long-stay visa or residence permit changes the count in the country that issued it. See long-stay visas and residence permits.
- Leave yourself a margin. Planning to finish on exactly day 90 leaves nothing for delays.
Check your plan
Our free Schengen calculator checks every day of a planned trip against your past and booked trips. It tells you whether the trip fits, the first day that would go over, the longest stay that fits, and the earliest date a trip of that length would fit. To keep your trips and get a warning before you run short, create a free account.
Not legal advice. This guide explains the published rules as we understand them on the date above. Rules and how they're applied change, and border officers make the final decision. Check the official sources below, and get professional advice for your own situation.
Try it with your dates
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Sources
Official sources
Keep reading
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