I was in Sweden for 59 days, then left to Cyprus (non-Schengen) for 90 days. I would like to go back to Sweden, and as I understand it, I would only have one month left since It has only been 5 months out of 6 of my whole stay. Is this correct? Or could the clock reset since I have been out of the Schengen area 3 months?
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It doesn't quite work that way. You don't actually “reset the clock” by leaving for 90 days but since it's a sliding window, it's almost the same. In your case, there would be one month left when you re-enter Sweden but at the end of this month, the first day of your first stay will not count anymore as it will then be more than six months in the past. You can therefore stay one day more. Same thing the day after that, and the day after, etc. rolling over until you have stayed for 90 days again.
You can check that with the calculator mentioned in this earlier answer.
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But with that logic I would be able to stay another 3 months, so 4 months total? – Jun Jun 17 '14 at 21:43
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@Jun No, the first month of your new stay does count for the next 180 days, only the first 59 days will expire during the stay, one after another. (I often get confused as well, it's best to use the calculator or make a drawing). – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 21:44
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Sorry, oressed enter before I meant to. But how does it make sense, though... Say someone stays 3 months in non-schengen, then goes 3 months in schengen, then it's 6 months, so they just stay for another 3 with no problems? But it's a bit late here, and I might be having a dumb moment. – Jun Jun 17 '14 at 21:46
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@Jun As long as you only stay half of the time, you could do that indefinitely, yes. You don't even have to do it in chunks of 90 days. But you can never stay more than 90 days at once. The idea is that it's enough of a constraint to filter genuine visitors from people who try to move permanently. Also remember that the border guards can always ask about the purpose of the trip, check your insurance and financial means, etc. so if someone would try to live in the Schengen area using this rule, they could be refused entry for other reasons. – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 21:49
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Wow, I never thought that was possible. I have bank statements and such, always with me...just in case. So I suppose it would be okay even if I was questioned. Just to be clear, when I go back to Sweden I can stay a month, plus another 90 days in a row? Making it a total of 120 days in Sweden? Thanks a lot for your prompt response, I literally am sitting in the dark stressing out as I type this, so thanks! – Jun Jun 17 '14 at 21:54
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No, you can only stay 90 days. That's 31 days + 59 days. And that's assuming you have been exactly 90 days out of the Schengen area (if you have stayed even one day less in Cyprus then it does not work and you can only stay for 89 days). – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 21:57
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Just to stress once again: the rule is 90 days in any 180-day period. There is no way around that. But in your case it would be 149 days over a period of 239 days (I am counting from the first day of your first stay, hope that's not too confusing), which is OK. Enter all the exact dates in the calculator to make sure. – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 21:59
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Ah, thats what I thought at the beggining. I guess I will either have to stay here in Cyprus longer so the six months pass, or apply for an extension in Sweden. Thank you so much! – Jun Jun 17 '14 at 22:04
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@Jun I don't think you need to wait six months either, it wouldn't help you could only ever stay 90 days, just like you can after three months. I really would advise you to try this calculator because it's difficult to describe the rules simply. – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 22:10
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I tried but Im on an ipad and it's not really working at the moment with it... What I meant was that if I stay in Cyprus(or anywhere non-schengen) 4 months, plus 2 months of Sweden i had before, it would be 6 months, and then I could head back to Sweden for a true clean slate for another 3 months. Because right now the problem is I left sweden after 2 months and will only be out of schengen for 3, so 5 months total, so the clock doesnt reset...Am I right? – Jun Jun 17 '14 at 22:15
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@Jun Well, no, sorry if my explanations confused the matter but if you have been 91 days out of the Schengen area then you can stay another 90 days in any case. The calculations are somewhat involved, there is no clock being reset but you do have 90 days in practice (provided you fulfill all the other conditions of course). – Relaxed Jun 17 '14 at 22:49
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Interesting. Is there any way I can make sure of this so I dont accidentally overstay? Just because I thought it had to be a total of 180 days before I could have 90 again – Jun Jun 18 '14 at 07:37
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@Jun Well, there is the calculator I mentioned, you might want to find another computer to be able to use it ;-) – Relaxed Jun 18 '14 at 07:59