Can we stay in France for 90 days after our visa expires?
Time on a visa is not counted for purposes of the 90/180 days rule
My wife and I have six-month visas but often travel back to England. We think that when the visa expires we can use the 90/180-day entitlement to extend our stay. Must we return to the UK when the visa runs out?
The French police, who man the borders, say it is possible to use the 90/180 days rule once your visa runs out.
When we asked the Direction générale de la police nationale (DGPN) this question, a spokesman said: “On expiry of a longstay visa, a person can carry out a short stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period without having to leave the country.
“At the end of these two stays, when leaving the country, they must explain to the border authorities that they have completed a short stay following their long stay and present relevant evidence to prove the legitimacy of their whole stay in France.”
There is therefore, in theory, no need to return to the UK immediately once the six months are up. Time on a visa is not counted for purposes of the 90/180 days rule.
On the other hand, we have seen contrary advice given by the French consulate in Canberra to Australians coming on working holiday visas. Two visa experts we have spoken to also stated there is a lack of clarity on this point, so it is best to leave the Schengen area before the visa expires and return again so as to clearly ‘reset’ a new period under the 90/180 days rule (shown by passport stamps).
A short trip to the UK or Ireland, for example, would accomplish this. Legal expert Marta Nahay of Exilae stated, however, that overrunning by a few days, if reasons are given, is not likely to be treated as a serious matter.
Note also that the Interior Ministry has stated that if you stay more than six months in a given year, your French ‘second home’ becomes your primary home, at least for the year in question, and you should request a VLS-TS visa if that is the intention. Should this happen, you would also fall under one of the tests for becoming a French tax resident (see chapter 1).