Before I moved to Denmark last month, I spent a ton of time researching how long I could stay in the country before applying for a residency permit, which is how I discovered this amazing travel hack! Basically, citizens of some countries that can visit the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days, including the US, Canada, and Australia, can actually stay up to 180 days by spending the last 90 of those 180 days in a Schengen country that has a bilateral visa waiver agreement with their home country!
EU Schengen Zone 90-Day Rule for Visa-Free Travel
Tourists from many non-EU countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, can travel to the Schengen area without a visa and stay up to 90 days in a 180-day period. Schengen area countries include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Bilateral Visa Waiver Agreement Allows Stays Up to 180 Days
Some Schengen countries have bilateral visa waiver agreements (BVWA) with other non-EU countries that allow tourists from those countries to stay in the individual Schengen country for up to 90 additional days after exhausting the 90-day Schengen limit! Denmark, for example, allows citizens of the US, Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea to freely enter and stay in Denmark for 90 days, regardless of time spent in another Schengen country before entering Denmark. Latvia currently has the same policy for citizens of the US and 11 other countries.
How to check if your country has a BVWA with a Schengen country
Here is EU documentation from 2019 listing existing bilateral visa waiver agreements. But just because a BVWA exists does not mean it’s enforced! For example, the US has BVWAs with France, Italy, and other Schengen countries that are no longer enforced. Assume an existing BVWA isn’t enforced unless you find explicit documentation confirming this policy on the Schengen country’s official immigration website. Also, always confirm with the embassy of the Schengen country how they apply the rules of the BVWA and if you’ll need to provide any documentation to border officials at the point and time of entry.
Thanks for the useful links. I gather not many people know about the BVWA implications.
I discovered this same “hack” in 2007 when I needed to potentially stay in Germany and Italy longer than the 90 days Schengen allowance would otherwise permit. As a New Zealand passport holder, I was able to use the BVWA.
At that time, I obtained letters from the German and Italian embassies. Although I recall the Italian Consulate General was unwilling to confirm the BVWA implications. Today I decided to look into the BVWA situation again. I see here (https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/destinations/europe-and-the-schengen-area, quoted below) that Italy has since decided to renege on this agreement. I have no idea if that’s also the case with the other countries (such as US) that have a BVWA with Italy.
“In recent years, the Italian Government has re-interpreted its understanding of New Zealand and Italy’s bilateral visa waiver agreement. This means Italy does not allow New Zealand travellers to extend their stay in Italy based on this agreement. For further information, please contact the Italian Embassy.”
All the best …
Jonathan
Jonathan, you’re so welcome, and thank you for your note. It’s my understanding as well that Italy doesn’t honor BVWAs anymore, sadly! Otherwise, I would be there in a heartbeat. :)
This is really super useful information! Thank youuu
You’re so welcome! So glad it’s useful. :)