Hi all,

I'm an American passport holder. I was a student in NL on a student visa until September 2012, and since then have been studying in London (on Tier 4) but travelling back frequently to NL and other Schengen countries to visit friends (and my girlfriend) or occasionally for work and research. My last trip to NL from the UK was April 25-May. Going through the exit passport control in Schiphol, I got stopped and taken into a side room while they counted all of my stamps. They told me they'd pulled me aside because I looked like a criminal they're looking for, but that I wasn't him so they were going to check my passport. They informed me that if I was over the 90 days, they would file a report on me. After ten minutes in the back room, they just handed me my passport and sent me on my way.

My questions are DID they file a report, IS there a way of knowing for sure, and IS there a way to get back in? I'm in the US right now but I have the second part of my round trip ticket booked for May 27 from Boston to AMS via Germany. Should I cancel my ticket (or change it to London) or should I chance it and take the flight as planned?

If they started counting from September 25 (when I re-entered the EU after graduation) then I'm WAY over 90 days, but if they started counting from March 27 (an entry stamp from six months after the September 25 one) I'm nowhere close to 90. I think I was stopped mainly because almost all my stamps are from AMS.

Should I change to CDG or another airport for my entry or not even chance it? Help.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, earlyr33ds.

Near the top of the page, on the right side, you will see a menu lableled 'Search this Forum'. There you will find a wealth of information addressing these very points about which you enquire. You will find it interesting. Unfortunately, this is only an internet discussion forum and next to nothing you find here can be considered authoritative.

Good luck.

cheers,

Henry

The rule is 90 of the previous 180 days. So long as you have spent at least 50% of your time in the UK you are fine.

My aside is that I normally just hand my passport and they stamp it without second thought, even though many times it was several months. I was a legal resident (not currently residing in Schengen) and really never even showed my residence card, nobody even bothered. Only once was I even asked for it crossing the border.

Based on your narrative, it is almost certain that you did not violate the provisions of the 90/180 day regulation and therefore there was no reason for any hit to be placed in SIS. Therefore, I would not worry about this for future travels, provided of course that you continue to comply with 90/180 at all times.

You may be checked again in the future, but this is not uncommon for people who travel as visitors to/from the Schengen states frequently. The check is nothing but a verification that you are complying with the law (which you appear to be), so nothing to worry about.

They would not have counted from either of these dates, but from a date six months before the date on which the incident happend. It's a rolling 90 days in any 180. If they stopped you today they would have to go back to a date somewhere around 18 November (it probably isn't the 18th precisely, but it's somewhere arond then)

The 90 in 180 days is the 90 days of PHYSICAL presence, so if you go for a weekend from LON for 3 days and then a month later you go for another 3-day weekend to NL, that's only +6 days.

Compile a spreadsheet of the trips you've taken into the Schengen zone with entrance and exit dates and keep it with you.

Actually, it's not. There was a very interesting thread in this forum a couple of months ago

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europ...g-borders.html

where one of the participants provided a link to a Court decision

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...5CJ0241:EN:PDF

establishing that the 180-day period is fixed, not rolling.

One result of this decision is that a scenario such as the following is completely within the rules.

You enter Schengen on 1 January and leave immediately the same day.

You return to Schengen on 2 April and stay until 29 June, which will be the 90th day of presence and last of the 180-day entry period. You leave Schengen on 29 June.

You can then return on 30 June, start a new 180-day period and remain until 27 September, i.e., 90 days.

Thus you would be in Schengen for all intents and purposes continuously from 2 April until 27 September, 179 days, with only the strategic trip out on 29 June to re-set the clock.

cheers,

Henry

Interesting! How many border guards know about this?