Does Leaving Schengen Zone During 90 Day Tourist Visa Pause the Visa?
 

Hi,

I've been trying to figure this out for some time now, but can't get a concrete answer out of anyone.

I'm a US citizen. I arrived in Berlin on May 9. I would like to attend a conference which ends on August 14.

If I leave the Schengen region for 5 days and head to London, does my tourist visa pause for the days that I am out of the region, and resume when I re-enter? Could I conceivably leave on August 14, if I spent 5 days out of the Schengen zone? Not attempting to overstay, simply confused about this aspect of the law.

Thanks!
t

You are allowed to stay in Schengen for a total of 90 days in 180. The time you spend outside Schengen doesn't count toward the 90 days, so yes, 5 days in London would extend the time you are allowed to stay. I would be careful, though, because a part-day in Schengen will probably count toward the total.

Part days count as days in Schengen, so your departure and arrival days count towards the 90 days.
This means you must count those when working out your final departure day (which also counts!).

LP has some good information on this:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...readID=2323289

Great. Thank you guys. Looks like I'm going to have to do a bit more fiddling around with my flights.

It's an interesting way to travel.
t