France
Verified- Region:
- Western Europe
- Time zones:
- Europe/Paris
- Last verified:
Overview
France is part of the Schengen area, so short stays there are governed by the shared Schengen 90/180 rule rather than by a separate French allowance. Days spent in France count towards the same 90 days as days spent in Germany, Spain, Italy or any other Schengen country, and the 180-day window is assessed across the area as a whole.
This matters most for travellers who move between several Schengen countries on one trip: there is no per-country budget to spread a stay across. The calculator below counts every Schengen day together, which is how a border officer will count them.
Stay rules
France is part of the Schengen area, so the 90-day allowance is shared with every other Schengen country, not counted separately.
Short stay (visa-exempt or Schengen short-stay visa)
- Permitted stay
- 90 days
- Assessment window
- 180 days
- How it is calculated
- Count back 180 days from each day of the stay, including that day, and total the days spent in the Schengen area within that span. The total must not exceed 90. The date of entry counts as the first day of stay and the date of exit as the last day of stay.
- Effective from
- Notes
- The 90-day allowance is shared across the whole Schengen area, not per country. The rule applies to short stays; national long-stay visas and residence permits are outside its scope.
Source: European Commission — Migration and Home Affairs, Short-stay calculator(opens in a new tab)
Last verified:
Where this rule applies
None of the French territories outside Europe are part of the Schengen area. A Schengen visa does not admit you to them, and a national visa for them does not admit you to the Schengen area; a trip covering both needs two visas. Days spent there are not days spent in the Schengen area.
Not covered by this rule
- Guadeloupe
- Martinique
- French Guiana
- Réunion
- Mayotte
- Saint-Martin
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
- French Polynesia
- New Caledonia
- Wallis and Futuna
- French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Passport validity
Travel document valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States, and issued within the previous 10 years.
Article 6(1)(a) also requires the travel document to have been issued within the previous 10 years. Individual carriers and member states may apply stricter checks in practice.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code), Article 6(opens in a new tab)
Last verified:
Check your stay
Non-EU short-stay travellers may spend up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period across the Schengen area. Add the trips you have already taken, then optionally add one you are planning.
Usually today. Change it to check a date in the past or future.
Trips already taken
Add every Schengen entry and exit. Both the entry day and the exit day count as full days.
Your trips stay on this device
Saved trips live in this browser only. They are never sent to a server, so clearing your browser data deletes them — export a copy if you want to keep them.
Source: European Commission — Migration and Home Affairs, Short-stay calculator(opens in a new tab)
Last verified:
Your data stays on your device
Your trips are stored only in this browser. Nothing is sent to DAYOZA.
Common questions
Can I spend 90 days in France and then 90 days in Spain?
No. The 90-day allowance covers the entire Schengen area, so days in France and days in Spain draw on the same total. Once 90 days have been used in a rolling 180-day window, no Schengen country is available until days age out of that window.
How long must my passport be valid to enter France?
Under Article 6(1)(a) of the Schengen Borders Code, the travel document must be valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from the Member States' territory, and must have been issued within the previous 10 years. Carriers and border officers may apply stricter checks in practice.
Does time spent in Ireland or the United Kingdom count?
No. Neither is part of the Schengen area, so days spent there do not draw on the Schengen 90-day allowance. They have their own entry rules, which DAYOZA has not yet verified.
Sources
- European Commission — Migration and Home Affairs, Short-stay calculator — Last verified:
- Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code), Article 6 — Last verified:
Report incorrect information
Calculators for France
Each one uses the rules published on this page.
- Schengen 90/180 CalculatorWork out how many of your 90 days you have used in the rolling 180-day window, and whether a planned trip stays within it.
- Visa Overstay CalculatorCount exactly how many days a stay runs past its permitted departure date, and how many are left if it has not.
- Passport Expiry CalculatorCheck your passport against a destination's actual validity requirement — not a one-size-fits-all six-month rule.
- Travel Days CalculatorCount the days of a trip the way border authorities do, with both the arrival and departure days included.
Nearby countries
Other verified pages in Western Europe.