# EU travel rights for UK citizen with Bulgarian long term residency



## Rob_Brice (Aug 6, 2016)

I’m a UK citizen currently living in Bulgaria and have a Bulgarian long term residency permit that I’ve held since January 2021 which allows me to live and travel to/from Bulgaria freely for the next five years.

I‘m planning to relocate to Portugal later this year, but have concerns about if the 90 days out of 180 days rule would be applied to me, given that by the time I relocate to Portugal I will have spent six months or so in Bulgaria, albeit legally due to my long term residency permit.

Can anyone offer advice?

Thanks in anticipation.


----------



## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

*1. *_*IntroductionRegulation (EU) No 610/2013 of 26 June 2013, amended the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement, the Schengen Borders Code and the Visa Code and –among others –re-defined the conceptof "short stay" for third-country nationals in the Schengen area1which *_*is a fundamental element of the Schengen acquis.*

QUOTE

_*Contrary to the definition which was in force until 18 October 2013, the new conceptis more precise by setting the duration in days, instead of months.Moreover, the term "from the date of first entry" which gave rise to many uncertainties and questions (especially after a judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU from 2006 (Case 241/05 "Bot)) has been droppedfrom the provision. The notion of "any", implies the application of a "moving" 180-day reference period, looking backwards at each day of the stay(be it at the entry or at the day of an actual check), into the last 180-day period, in order to verify if the 90 days/180-day requirement continues to be fulfilled. Among others, itmeans that an absence for an uninterrupted period of 90 days allows for a new stay for up to 90 days.Stays in Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Romania, Cyprus and the United Kingdom shall not be taken into accountas they arenot (yet) part of the Schengen area without internal borders. At the same time, the non-EU Member StatesIceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland belong to the Schengen area; short stays in these countries count in when assessing the compliance withthe 90 days/ 180-day *_*rule. *


Schengen suggests whatever your arrangement is in Bulgaria has no relvance to being in Portugal with a UK passport


----------



## Rob_Brice (Aug 6, 2016)

Thanks for this. If I understand this correctly then the 90 day EU rule applies to Schengen member countries only, and non-Schengen countries apply their own rules. Meaning when I turn up in Portugal, and assuming that I haven’t been in any Schengen countries on the way the 90 day clock starts ticking on my arrival?


----------



## RichardHenshall (Jul 26, 2009)

Rob_Brice said:


> Thanks for this. If I understand this correctly then the 90 day EU rule applies to Schengen member countries only, and non-Schengen countries apply their own rules. Meaning when I turn up in Portugal, and assuming that I haven’t been in any Schengen countries on the way the 90 day clock starts ticking on my arrival?


You referred to relocating. If that's intended to be permanent, I think you'll need to obtain the appropriate residency visa.

As a pedant I would comment that the 90 day clock starts when you first enter the Schengen zone and runs until you leave (in case you are travelling overland), so you might get fewer than 90 days in Portugal.


----------



## Rob_Brice (Aug 6, 2016)

Thanks Richard. Yes I will be relocating and applying for residency. I just want to avoid issues at the border on entry to Portugal, and it seems there shouldn’t be since I will not have spent time in a Schengen zone country.


----------

