Schengen, Schengen

January 30, 2012 6:38 AM

Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Schengen - does time in those three countries count against the 90/180 days?

Supposing one (an American) wanted to spend, say, 6 weeks in Bulgaria and then 90 days immediately after in France.

Now, under the Schengen agreement an American can go to France--or any combination of Schengen countries--for up to 90 days in a period of 180 without a visa. Bulgaria has signed on but not yet implemented the Schengen agreement. Does time spent in Bulgaria count against the 90 day limit?

posted by resiny to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

Bulgaria is not a member of the European Union's Schengen passport-free zone (and most likely won't be any time soon), and as such your stay there will be counted separately from the 90 day visa-free limit. The same applies to Romania, Cyprus, the UK and Ireland.
posted by halogen at 6:46 AM on January 30, 2012

Response by poster: I see. So in going from Bulgaria to a Schengen country, I would an exit stamp from Bulgaria and a fresh entry stamp from the country I was going to?
posted by resiny at 7:08 AM on January 30, 2012

Yes.
posted by cmonkey at 8:33 AM on January 30, 2012