Technical article

How Long Could You Be Away Before You Lose Your Place?

Tom has read about the 90 days in 180 days rule and is worried.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a couple named Tom and Janet. Both are 63. They plan to live in Croatia for most of the year and visit family in Ohio for the summer. Tom has read about the 90 days in 180 days rule and is worried. Janet asks if it applies to them at all.

Two different clocks

The visitor clock. The European Commission says short stays are limited to a "maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period." On counting, it says: "You must count back 180 days from each day of your stay and ensure the total number does not exceed 90." This is for visitors.

The resident clock. The same page says that if you hold an EU residence permit or long-stay visa, "you are not subject to the 90/180-day rule." Residents face other limits. Those are about how long you are away, and they matter when you want long-term or permanent status.

What Croatia, Malta and Poland publish (Greece follows)

Croatia's Ministry of the Interior also describes permanent stay. It names 4 years of temporary stay for family members of Croatian citizens, and 3 years for several other groups. In those cases the page says you may be away up to six months in total, or four months at a time. It says status is withdrawn if the holder "has resided abroad for an uninterrupted period of more than one year" or has moved out of Croatia.

Malta's agency, Identità, says: "no single absence may exceed six (6) months" and "the total time spent abroad must not exceed ten (10) months within the five-year period." Its page gives these limits in months and not in days.

Poland's Office for Foreigners says: "You may leave Poland for any purpose for up to 6 months at a time, up to 10 months in aggregate within 5 years." It adds that some absences, such as work for a Polish employer or medical treatment not available in Poland, count as time spent in Poland. A separate page of the Poznan voivodeship office, dated 6 February 2020, gives the same two limits for permanent residence. The Office for Foreigners page shows no date.

For Tom and Janet, a summer of about three months in Ohio each year would be within a six-month single absence. Over five years, it would add up to about 15 months. That is my arithmetic. It is more than the 10 months all three countries list for long-term status, so they would want to ask the ministry how it counts.

Greece

Greece's Ministry of Migration pages and the text of Law 4251/2014 (read 11 October 2026) set the withdrawal rule for long-term residents. Status is lost after twelve consecutive months outside EU territory, or after more than six years away from Greek territory. The pages reached do not state how many months a person may be away while earning the five years.

What is left open

• Greece. The absence limits while earning long-term status are not stated on the pages reached.
• Dates. The Croatia, Malta and Office for Foreigners pages show no date, so check the current wording with the office.