Can Americans stay past 90 days under old treaties?

Possibly, but only in a handful of countries, only if you ask, and not as a right. A small group of Schengen states kept very old treaties with the United States that let American visitors stay beyond the general 90 days. EU law still allows those treaties to be used, but it does not oblige any country to use them, and the newest official list we could find is from 2019. Treat it as a reason to ask, never as a plan.

What is the old-treaty exception to the 90/180 rule?

The general rule is 90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area. The Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement lets each country go beyond that in two cases: exceptional circumstances, or “a bilateral agreement concluded before the entry into force of this Convention”. That wording comes from Article 60 of the Entry/Exit System Regulation (EU) 2017/2226, which rewrote Article 20 of the Convention.

The Commission’s own Schengen calculator manual explains the effect for Americans. Where an agreement is still in force, US nationals “may stay in such Schengen States” for the period it provides, “generally three months”, on top of the general 90 days. The same manual says the calculator cannot model this, and that applying the old agreements is a possibility for each country and not an obligation.

Which countries list a US agreement?

Under the EES Regulation, the countries had to notify these agreements and the Commission had to publish them. Its list of bilateral visa waiver agreements, dated 8 April 2019, shows ten countries with an entry for the United States. We found no later version.

The list is a 2019 snapshot of what states told the Commission. We have not confirmed that each country still applies its agreement today, so check with the country’s own immigration authority before you rely on a row.

How do you actually get the extra time?

The Convention, as amended, says the extension is granted “upon request of the alien”. The request goes to that country’s authorities on entry or during the stay, “at the latest on the last working day” of your 90 days. It is not automatic, and nothing about your passport or your EES record grants it for you. The text does leave some room if you miss the deadline: the stay can still be extended and presumed lawful if you give credible evidence that you stayed only in that country.

Two limits matter for planning. First, an extended stay lets you remain “only on the territory of that Contracting Party” and you must leave through that country’s external border, so it does not work for a trip that ends in another Schengen country. Second, the country must enter the extension in your EES record, so it is visible to border staff everywhere.

Does the EU stay checker or the calculator count it?

The Commission says its Schengen calculator does not. If you use a calculator or the EU tool to plan, it will show you reaching the limit while an old-treaty extension might, in theory, apply. That gap is why you must not simply assume the extra days exist. Our guide to the EU “Check how long you can stay” tool covers what its results mean, and the Schengen calculator follows the standard 90/180 rule.

What should US travellers do instead?

• Plan around 90 days in 180 as the rule, and see the 90/180 rule explained.
• If you really need longer in one of the ten countries, ask that country’s immigration authority well before day 90.
• For other long stays, look at the routes in our piece on Schengen stay extensions, including a national visa.

ETIAS is not in operation yet and the EU has announced no start date. When it starts, Americans will need it for short stays, and it will not change the 90/180 limit. More on that is on the ETIAS for US citizens page.