Is There an Accepted/Easy Way to Deal With Schengen 90 Day Rules?

[Chotu]

Say you wanted to go to Europe for a couple years.

How do most cruisers deal with the Schengen 90 day tourist restrictions while on a boat?

Are there some common places to bounce between so you aren’t constantly sailing everywhere instead of experiencing the countries you want to visit?

What’s a common migration pattern for a visitor to do when in Europe?

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Say you wanted to go to Europe for a couple years.

How do most cruisers deal with the Schengen 90 day tourist restrictions while on a boat?

Are there some common places to bounce between so you aren’t constantly sailing everywhere instead of experiencing the countries you want to visit?

What’s a common migration pattern for a visitor to do when in Europe?

Apply for a permanet residency in one state or a long term visa.

How woud an EU citizen get a long term permit for the US without having to leave every 90 days?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Apply for a permanet residency in one state or a long term visa.

How woud an EU citizen get a long term permit for the US without having to leave every 90 days?

Bounce to Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, so you don’t have to make excessive journeys.

I didn’t ask how to stay longer than 90.

I asked what the normal, easy, short distance ports are to allow you to reset the clock. Ones people typically use.

I’m already a citizen of the EU anyway. My girlfriend limits the time.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Apply for a permanet residency in one state or a long term visa.
...

As a resident, would one then have to pay VAT on the boat, depending on country? I think in Ireland there might be a way to escape VAT.

Later,
Dan

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Say you wanted to go to Europe for a couple years.

How do most cruisers deal with the Schengen 90 day tourist restrictions while on a boat?

...

In northern Europe visiting Ireland and the UK for 90 days since they are not in Schengen. In southern Europe one does the same with more countries that are not in Schengen.

Later,
Dan

[donradcliffe]

The problem is bouncing doesn't work. The Schengen limit is 90 days in any 180 day period.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by dannc

As a resident, would one then have to pay VAT on the boat, depending on country? I think in Ireland there might be a way to escape VAT.

Later,
Dan

Nope. Not a resident. Just a citizen. Going in as an American. Hence, my question about which ports outside the Schengen zone are best to bounce out to for the required 90 days.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The problem is bouncing doesn't work. The Schengen limit is 90 days in any 180 day period.

Yes, I’m familiar. Thanks. Was looking where to spend the non-Schengen 90 days. Convenient spots that are common for people to use, good places to visit

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by dannc

In northern Europe visiting Ireland and the UK for 90 days since they are not in Schengen. In southern Europe one does the same with more countries that are not in Schengen.

Later,
Dan

In Southern Europe, can you be specific regarding which spots are best?

Land people have all sorts of common spots to go when in the non-Schengen 90 days. Mostly Eastern European spots.

Do we have any?

[AlanT]

It is not difficult to manage the schengen time limit if you plan your European travels to include non-Schengen countries. It shouldn't be a hardship for example to spend 3 months in the UK or Ireland if you are cruising Northern Europe, or 3 months in Croatia, Cyprus &/or Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Gibraltar if in the Med. We built it into our "wintering" plans.

[donradcliffe]

Turkey used to be a great spot, but the political situation has gotten worse. Israel is very interesting to visit, but be prepared to deal with a bunch of crap getting into the country. Croatia is nice, but the season is short and they are trying to go Schengen. I don't think I'd want to spend 90 days in North Africa.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Apply for a permanet residency in one state or a long term visa.

Generally not available to cruisers. You hear some apocryphal stories of getting long term visas but they never seem to provide details. Of course, most long term visas usually require minimum income and a residence you will live at. Technically, they only apply to the country of the visa and the 90 day rule applies to the rest of the Schengen area.

Assuming you are using the Schengen 90 day visa limits, you can use the following to get out of the Schengen:
- UK
- Ireland
- Any of the North African Countries
- Turkey
- Montenegro
- Albania
- Bosnia
- Russia

There are a few gray area countries, like Croatia & Hungary where they are working toward full Schengen status, so for long term planning it's up in the air. (Brexit and Corona may change the path also)

Keep in mind, it's a running tally, so the days of hopping the boarder for a day and returning to a fresh clock are gone. It's 90 days out of the prior 180 days that you are allowed.

VAT rules (assuming your boat isn't VAT paid) are completely separate. For example, if you use the canal/river system to get to Switzerland, you can reset the VAT exemption on the boat by having the boat spend a day in Switzerland but it doesn't do anything for your visa since Switzerland participates in the Schengen Visa scheme but not in the EU VAT scheme.

[hpeer]

Great thread.
We are cheap. We tend to pay on the hook a lot and then put our boat on the hard when we are off for any period. How does that work out in thirds locations? I’m guessing there is a yard in Gibraltar but no anchoring our?


Croatia: Short season? Surely not too cold?

Cyprus &/or Turkey: I had read they were not mucking with cruisers?

Morocco:

Tunisia: Too hot?

Gibraltar:

Israel:

[mdamours]

I wrote a little post about it after facing the same issue last year:

https://oxalisborealis.com/sailing-i...-90-day-limit/

[Belezar]

I have looked into getting a long term visa for France, and it seems doable. That was for a land stay though. Would that work if your boat is there too?