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I'll be studying in Poland and my long stay D-visa will expire at the end of the month (necessary as a UK citizen as my studies were over 90 days).

I want to stay into September here in the EU, and I still have my 90 day allowance as a UK citizen.

How do I switch over to the ordinary 90 allowance? Do I really have to do a border run to and from Schengen, or can I just go to a land border somewhere else and ask them to stamp me out? (The Kaliningrad border for example)

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    What's the difference between a border run to and from Schengen and going to Kaliningrad? You mean showing up to the Polish border post but never entering Russia?
    – Relaxed
    Aug 1, 2022 at 16:16
  • Yep. Going to a hard border and simply being stamped out to start the 90 days ticking. Would that work as opposed to having to fly out and back again?
    – Bob
    Aug 1, 2022 at 16:28
  • See also travel.stackexchange.com/questions/79143/…
    – Relaxed
    Aug 1, 2022 at 17:54
  • I wrote an answer to share my thoughts about this. From a legal point of view, this is not that different from a border run really.
    – Relaxed
    Aug 1, 2022 at 17:56
  • Article 12(2) of the Schengen Border Code does allow the traveller to submit credible evidence when an entry stamp is missing to calculate when the 90 days start. The expiration date of the D-visa should be sufficient for this purpose.
    – Mark Johnson
    Aug 1, 2022 at 18:17

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There is no specific procedure for that in the Schengen Borders Code. It's not even clear that stamps are required at all (some countries seem to require them, others don't). So the only thing you can get are regular Schengen exit and entry stamps and you probably want to avoid any dangling entry stamp. To have a coherent series, you therefore need a pair of stamps (exit and entry on the same day), which is undistinguishable from a “border run”.

In that context, it doesn't really matter if it's a land border or an airport. If you go to a Schengen external border and turn around, you end up with two stamps, which is the point (provided the border guards let you back in, of course). The border between Poland and Russia is an external border and border guards will have the necessary stamps on hand.

The only odd thing about Kaliningrad (as opposed to say, Croatia or Romania) is that's it's not so easy to enter Russia. Polish border guards are not in charge of enforcing this but they might still ask you about your lack of visa and must be willing to play along with your plan. I have no idea whether they would.

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    I looked at this some time ago in connection with a similar question. At the time, I found a list of questionnaire responses from Schengen countries on the question of whether Annex II nationals need to leave the Schengen area when their residence permits expire. Some said yes, others no. The Netherlands was one of the "yes" countries, so I looked at its law, and it has an explicit requirement to leave at the end of the permit's validity. (I don't remember whether it was to leave just NL or the entire Schengen area.) I also do not remember which camp Poland was in, but maybe someone can look.
    – phoog
    Aug 1, 2022 at 18:02
  • @phoog I actually remember you mentioning this, did you post it somewhere? Couldn't find it among all the other Q&A we have on this.
    – Relaxed
    Aug 1, 2022 at 18:05
  • I think I did. It might have been on Expatriates. I'll see if I can find it, whether here or there or on whatever EU site it was.
    – phoog
    Aug 1, 2022 at 18:09

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