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The Schengen rules have certain exemptions for citizens of countries which concluded bilateral visa-free agreements before the Schengen area took effect. For example, a relevant quote from the Czech Ministry of the Interior website:

In practice, it means that, for instance, a citizen of the Korean Republic can travel in the Schengen area (including the CR) for a period of 90 days in any 180-day period. If the citizen of the Korean Republic stayed in the Schengen area for the entire period, he/she can move to the CR before the 3 months are up and then stay for a further 90 days in the CR without a visa. During these 90 days in the CR, he/she can no longer travel to other Schengen states without a visa. In the event of departing and returning to the CR during this period, it is necessary to take a direct flight.

The provision above applies to citizens of:

Argentina, Chile, Croatia, Israel, Korea, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Uruguay

What other countries have similar provisions and to citizens of which countries do they apply? And does the Schengen clock "count back" while the tourist is using his rights as part of a bilateral agreement?

Note that since the rule still precludes staying for more than 90 days in any single country, this is on topic for Travel.SE.

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  • Related meta: meta.travel.stackexchange.com/questions/3654/…
    – JonathanReez
    May 30, 2016 at 11:55
  • 1
    Ping to @GayotFow, as this is a rarely explored topic which needs an expert in Schengen law.
    – JonathanReez
    May 30, 2016 at 12:55
  • 2
    The problem is that this is not defined in the Schengen regulations (or EU law itself) but in a bunch of pre-existing agreements. I would not expect to find a centralized consolidated list of these anywhere. Even the fact that these agreements are still valid wasn't explicitely provided for in the original Schengen convention, I think it took some court case to establish that. But usually you can find a list for a given country (e.g. I recall some website from the Australian government listing all Schengen countries where Australian citizens could benefit from such agreements).
    – Relaxed
    Jun 3, 2016 at 9:39
  • In sort, it's a bit mess.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 3, 2016 at 9:42

1 Answer 1

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+100

This is a community wiki answer which covers all of the Schengen countries. Please add exempted countries to the list, along with an official confirmation.

The answer format should be:

Country name - Link to official source

  • List of exemptions

Austria

Belgium

Czech Republic - Source

  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Croatia
  • Israel
  • Korea
  • Costa Rica
  • Malaysia
  • Uruguay
  • Singapore (only 30 days)

Denmark - Source

(time spent in other Nordic countries is considered as time spent in Denmark)

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Malaysia
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • United States

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

1
  • How is this an accepted answer? It has no information! Feb 24 at 11:31

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