The 90-day rule has long applied to non-EU nationals like Americans, Canadians and Australians and since Brexit is also applies to Brits.
What is the rule?
Non-EU nationals from certain countries can stay for 90 days out of every 180 in the EU without needing a visa or a residency permit - you can find a full list of those countries here, but they include the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
You can find a full breakdown of the rules HERE, but broadly you can stay for up to 90 days in every 180 - this can be in the form of one long stay or several short stays.
The limit is for time spent within the EU/Schengen zone, so you cannot simply move to a different EU country, you need to leave the Bloc altogether and go to a non-EU country in order to stop the 90-day clock.
If you want to stay longer than 90 days - either because you are moving to France full-time or because you want longer visits - you will need either a visa or a residency permit (carte de séjour).
You can find full details on the types of visa HERE and how to apply HERE, but the key thing is that visas must be applied for in advance from your home country - you cannot in most circumstances come to France and then apply in order to extend your 90-day stay.
Those who have a French residency permit (carte de séjour) are exempt from the 90-day requirement, but it does apply to visits to other EU countries, although documents checks between EU countries are not widespread.
What are the penalties for people who overstay?
It is up to you to keep track of your 90s days. The system works on a rolling calendar - so at any time you must be able to count backwards 180 days, and within that time period you should not have spent more than 90 days in the EU/Schengen zone. There are various online calculators that can help you to keep track.
READ ALSO: CALCULATOR: How to work out your 90-day allowance in France✎
If you spend more than 90 days in the EU or Schengen zone without a visa or residency permit then you are officially an over-stayer.
The introduction of the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES) has made it much harder for over-stayers to escape detection - according to an EU official, 4,000 over-stayers have been detected in the first four months of the sytstem.
The EU lists a range of possible penalties;
Deportation - if you are found to have overstayed, countries are within their rights to either imprison you and deport you, or give you a certain number of days to leave. In practice, deportation is rare for people who aren’t working or claiming benefits, they are more likely to be advised of the situation and told to leave as soon as possible
Fines – fines can be levied in addition to other penalties and vary according to country. Fines issued by France for overstaying the 90 days are usually €198.
90-day ban - if you have over-stayed you will usually not be allowed back into the EU/Schegen zone for minimum of 90 days
Entry ban – countries can also impose a complete ban on re-entry, usually for three years although it can be longer. A complete ban is usually only put in place for people who have over-stayed for a significant amount of time
Difficulties returning to the Schengen area – even if you avoid all of the above penalties, the overstay alert on your passport will make it more difficult for you to return to the EU, and this applies to any EU or Schengen zone country, not just the one you over-stayed in. People who have this alert on their passport are likely to face extended checks at the border and may even be turned back. You will also likely encounter difficulties if you later apply for a visa or residency
People who simply stay in an EU country without securing residency become undocumented immigrants and will not be able to access healthcare or social security provisions. If caught, they face deportation.
How strict is France about these rules?
Among EU countries France has previously had a reputation for being among the less strict, and deportations are rare for people who are not working or claiming benefits, unless they have been in France for many years without the correct papers.
If it's a question of simply over-staying by a few weeks it's very unlikely that police will come to your home and deport you.
However, that doesn't mean that there are no consequences of your over-stay - what's likely to happen is that you will be caught next time you leave France.
The new EES passport checks mean that over-stayers are highly likely to be flagged when they next cross a border - this is likely to lead to a fine - €198 is the standard amount but it can be more in certain circumstances - and a 90-day ban on re-entry, but you may be banned from re-entering France for longer if you have over-stayed for a long time.
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