The France-US Bilateral Agreement: 90 Extra Days Beyond Schengen, Explained

Most US travellers believe 90 days in any 180 is the hard ceiling for time in the Schengen area. For France specifically, that is not the whole story. A bilateral agreement between France and the United States, in force since 1949, allows US citizens to spend up to 90 additional days in France beyond their Schengen allowance. For years this arrangement lived in a strange limbo, acknowledged in EU documents but rarely explained officially. That changed with the EU's Entry/Exit System: the French government now describes the agreement, and how border guards handle it, on its official EES guidance. Here is exactly what the agreement allows, what the official procedure is, and where the real risks still sit. Updated 4 August 2026.

What the agreement says

The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs states it plainly on its official EES page for the United States:

"Since April 1, 1949, France and the United States have had a bilateral agreement that allows U.S. citizens to spend 90 days in metropolitan France without requiring a visa, regardless of any previous stays in the Schengen zone."
— France in the U.S., Gradual implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) (accessed 4 August 2026)

The agreement itself is an exchange of diplomatic notes from 16 and 31 March 1949, and it appears in the European Commission's published list of Member States' bilateral visa waiver agreements. Because it predates Schengen, France kept the right to honour it for stays in France alone.

In practice this means a US citizen can spend 90 days anywhere in the Schengen area under the normal 90/180 rule, then a further 90 days in metropolitan France only, without a visa. Two important limits: the extra days are valid in metropolitan France only (cross into Spain, Italy or any other Schengen country and you are back inside the normal rule, over-limit), and per the official guidance the bilateral stay must come after the Schengen stay, not before it.

How the EES handles it (the part that used to be guesswork)

The EES, fully operational since 10 April 2026, counts every non-EU traveller's days automatically, which raised an obvious question: would the system simply flag bilateral-agreement travellers as overstayers? France's official answer is a manual override at the border:

"U.S. citizens must state their desire to invoke the bilateral agreement when they cross the border into France."
— France in the U.S., EES guidance (accessed 4 August 2026)

"A French border guard will then manually update their EES file so that the bilateral agreement is applied to their stay."
— France in the U.S., EES guidance (accessed 4 August 2026)

Note what this requires of you: the agreement is not applied automatically. If you do not declare it at the French border, your EES file counts you under the standard 90/180 rule, and day 91 makes you an overstayer in the system used by every Schengen border.

The risks the agreement does not remove

• Exit through another Schengen country. Fly home via Amsterdam or Frankfurt after five months in France and you are presenting yourself, over-limit, to a border system that may have no record of your French declaration being honoured. Exit through a French airport.
• Airlines and connections. Check-in staff apply the standard rules. Reporting by The Local France and The Connexion documents travellers being questioned or refused boarding because staff did not know the agreement exists.
• Tax residency. Six months in France flirts with France's domestic tax-residence tests. The agreement solves an immigration question, not a tax one.
• The 180-day reset does not pause. Days spent in France under the bilateral agreement do not erase your Schengen history; re-entering the normal 90/180 pool afterwards takes planning.

If you use it, count everything

The bilateral route only works if you can show, day by day, which allowance you were using and when: 90 Schengen days, then the French bilateral days, then out through France. That is a day-counting exercise with zero tolerance for error, in a border system that now, in the European Commission's words, performs "the automatic detection of overstayers". The Days Monitor iPhone app counts your Schengen days automatically and lets you add a separate custom rule for the France-only period, so both clocks run side by side. You can check where your 90/180 window stands right now with our free Schengen calculator.

Related reading: How long can US citizens stay in France?, Can US citizens stay in France for six months? and Do Americans need a visa for France?

This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Rules and their enforcement change; confirm your position with the French consulate or a qualified adviser before relying on the bilateral route.

Sources

• France in the U.S. (Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs), Gradual implementation of the EES (accessed 4 August 2026)
• European Commission, List of Member States' bilateral visa waiver agreements (accessed 4 August 2026)
• European Commission, Entry/Exit System (accessed 4 August 2026)
• The Local France, on the 1949 treaty in practice (accessed 4 August 2026)
• The Connexion, on using the 1949 agreement (accessed 4 August 2026)