Under Schengen rules, for travel within Europe, most* non-European nationals can only stay in Europe for 90 days in any 180 days without having an entry visa.
The 90 days operates on a rolling basis, so that every day you enter Europe counts towards the 180 days limit.
This means that you can make multiple visits to Europe up to 90 days within the 180-day period, or you can remain in France on a single trip for 90 days.
Once your 90 days in 180 days is up, you cannot re-enter the Schengen area for 90 days.
As the rule operates across Europe, to the days you spend in France, you also need to add days spent in other European countries.
Your passport will be stamped every time you enter and leave a European country.
You can use the Schengen calculator to assist in the calculation of the number of days you have used.
In order to stay in Europe for a longer period you need to apply for a visa to your local consulate. You cannot apply for the visa in France or Europe.
For those visiting France for between 4 to 6 months, the visa you need to obtain is a temporary Long Stay visitor visa called a Visa Longue Sejour-Temporaire Visiteur (VLS-T).
We receive regular mails from readers querying whether the 90/180 days rule is cumulative with an entry visa.
That is to say, is it possible to enter France before the commencement date of the visa using the 90/180-days rule, and is it possible to stay in France after the expiry of the visa using the same rule?
According to the Consulate, whilst it is possible to enter France on the 90/180-days rule before the commencement date of your visa, you will need to leave France and re-enter the country on or after the commencement date on the visa.
On both occasions your passport should be stamped with relevant dates of entry and departure.
As to remaining in France (or Europe) after the expiry date of your visa, it is not possible to overstay in France once your visa has expired.
However, provided you leave on or before the expiry date of your visa, you can return to France on the 90/180-days rule.
In short, a visa is cumulative with the 90/180-days rule, but only provided you leave and re-enter France on each occasion.
This rule applies to all countries having an agreement with France for 90-days visa free travel.
Of course, if you stay more than 6 months in France, it is possible the French tax authority would deem you to be tax resident.
However, this is not by no means self-evident, if for no other reason than the tax authority may simply not become aware of your circumstances. Pierre Lebriquir an avocat specialising in immigration law states that: "As for being potentially tax resident, the only way is for French authorities to check the stamps on the passport. To my knowledge, there is no automatic information from the 'Douane' (Customs) to the 'Impots'."
In practice, therefore, whether you become tax resident in France may well be down to whether you wish to be so!
*90-Day visa free travel countries
**Schengen Countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
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