Residence Permit vs Visa Free Schengen Dynamic for Americans

Hello all,

I, an American, entered Poland on September 1st, activating my 90 days of visa-free Schengen time. Just before these 90 days expired (literally on day 90), my student residence permit was processed, which is allowing me to stay in Poland until March 1st. That's exactly 6 months.

Now it's my understanding that I had two timers that started counting down when I entered on September 1st. One, the 90 days of visa-free stay, and two, the 180 days within which the 90 days had to elapse. So I could leave the Schengen area and come back, and the 90 day counter would pick back up where it left off, so long as I was still within the 180 days from September 1st.

Now, after March 1st my residence permit will expire, but *technically* so also would that 180 day counter (I think it's technically 181 or 182 days from Sept 1 to March 1).

Does this mean that I get another 90 day visa-free tourist period in the Schengen area??

I think it probably doesn't work that way.. but I thought I would ask. Please include sources, if you have any.

Thanks!

Think of it a bit like this.

Every day spent outside of the Schengen zone gives you one more day inside the zone visa-free. The Polish residence permit means that you aren't using the visa-free days, so you're outside of the zone for the purposes of the Schengen visa-free clock. Therefore, on March 1, you've got as many as 90 days (depending on how many days you "regained") to use again.

To make it slightly clearer, if you got your residence permit before December 1, then you'll have your full 90 days to use as you wish.

No need for links or sources, the Schengen visa-free law makes it clear.

How did you come to know this, though? Where can I find explicit proof that this is the case?

This is really what I'm hoping, because it would make everything so much easier. But when I ask them about this at the government offices (for example, the Polish embassy in Washington DC, or at some Urząd Wojewódzki here), it seems like they don't really know what to tell me, or they just get confused by my question.

In fact, they told me that I needed to enter a different country for a day, have a receipt or some proof that I was there, and then reenter Poland and I could renew my 90 day stay in Poland. At the Polish embassy in Washington they said it would have to be Russia or Ukraine, in other words exiting the Schengen zone, but in the wojewódzki office here they said it could be Germany or the Czech Republic.

But with my understanding of the Schengen regulations, this doesn't seem like it would be necessary.. EXCEPT for the fact that I might need some kind of proof of my legality. I know at the American base in Germany they check your passport and if the stamp of your entry into the Schengen zone is older than 3 months, they'll request a residence card or something. I don't know if it would be enough just to get another stamp, say from entering from Ukraine, or what.. or if that would even be feasible for me to do, given the current state of affairs in Ukraine.. or if they do understand the Schengen renewal period and I just didn't ask..

Merged:

Can I apply for a Schengen Visa to other EU country while waiting for Karta Pobytu in Poland?

Hello,
I want to attend a family gathering in Slovakia but currently I'm still waiting for the Karta pobytu to be issued so I only have the stamp of the immigration office in my passport. Can I apply for a visa in the Slovakian embassy in Poland? Right now I want to leave Poland and travel to Slovakia but I want to know whether the embassy would allow me to apply for a schengen visa normally while not having Karta pobytu in my hand? And If I can get the visa, can I still come back to Poland and collect my Karta pobytu?

Of which country are you a citizen? The stamp only allows you to be in Poland, not to re-enter.