The 90-in-180-day problem is one of the biggest untold Brexit stories. Millions of British people lost practical freedoms they had already built their lives around. Not theory. Not ideology. Real lives. Real homes. Real families. youtu.be/JYA3gVGxlnw #SaveFOM #RejoinEU

The visitor arrangements won’t meet his needs as someone who lives part-year in Spain and as someone who travels frequently to other Schengen countries. If he were not living part-year in Spain, he’d have a full Schengen travel allowance. This is the 90-in-180-day problem he is facing.

Go to a wedding in Italy. You’ve just lost time in your home in Spain. That’s how the system works now. Ordinary life events come with a countdown timer attached.

The system assumes you’re a tourist. A quick trip. A short stay. But millions of Brits don’t live like that anymore. And now their lives don’t fit the rules.

Brexit didn’t just redraw borders—it quietly rationed people’s lives. 90 days here, 90 days there. Homes left empty. Families split by a calendar. Freedom of Movement wasn’t a luxury. It was how life actually worked. #Brexit #FreedomOfMovement

Before Brexit: You could build a life across countries. After Brexit: You have to ration your days between them. That’s not control. That’s restriction.

With global events strong EU–UK ties matter more than ever. EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and UK Europe Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds have said both sides are committed to building a forward-looking and reliable partnership that delivers for citizens.

1. Thread 🧵 Freedom of Movement wasn’t just a policy. It was a simple freedom: the ability to say yes. • Yes to a job. • Yes to love. • Yes to a new life in another country. When that freedom disappeared, something subtle but important changed.

Our critics say there is no 90 in 180 days problem . The EU Visa Strategy would however suggest otherwise. There is a recognition that the rule is disadvantageous to the EU as it impedes growth . ec.europa.eu/commission/p...?

Recognition that the 90/180 rule is restrictive and needs to change for the benefit of the EU: gulfnews.com/world/europe...

While Lord Frost blames the EU for the 90/180 problem it’s worth reminding folk that many of us who seek change regard his attitude not only as disingenuous but offensive.

Politics Live discussing impact of 90/180 on touring musicians. Sadly Lord Frost defending the Brexit Agreement and blaming the EU. Alex Sobel Labour MPfor Headingley challenged Frost.

I’m not surprised some EU27 citizens were traumatised by Brexit especially if they lost rights in the UK. Same for EEA/Swiss. But it’s wrong to assume UK citizens (also EU citizens at the time) were not equally traumatised by losing rights in 31 EU countries too.

If you can own a home, pay taxes, and contribute locally, being locked out of it for 90 days isn’t “border control”. It’s administrative cruelty.

Part-year residents aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re asking for the right to access their own homes without running a spreadsheet.

Millions of people didn’t “move abroad”. They built lives across borders — and Brexit criminalised the normality of that overnight.

The real scandal isn’t that people want more than 90 days. It’s that there is still no legal route for people who already belong in two places.

Calling part-year residents “holidaymakers” is the laziest way to avoid admitting the system doesn’t fit modern lives.

Owning a home you’re not allowed to go to whenever you need it is a very specific kind of absurd.

Our campaign asks for 1. Protection under withdrawal agreement (or similar) for everyone living lawfully in Spain part-year before Brexit. 2. UK passport holders to be admitted visa free for up to six months every time they visit Spain irrespective of time in other countries.

Why mutual Freedom of Movement is needed….

True

Regrettably there’s no sign yet of recognising or grandfathering the residency rights that were lost by many Brits when Brexit happened.

The U.K. government under Johnson & Sunak claimed the U.K. did not negotiate visa waivers . Clearly this was untrue as the U.K.-China trade talks include provision for visa free travel .

It certainly does. It’s why the terms “resident”, “lawfully resident”, “ordinarily resident”, and “fiscally” or “tax resident” might all mean different things in different countries and at different times.

A part year resident might have permanence over a long enough time period. This might be a life they’ve built over many years or decades.

Others like @francevisafree.bsky.social @bremaininspain.com @stayeuropean.bsky.social @europeanmovement.co.uk @marchforrejoin.co.uk @lizwebster.bsky.social @yem1.bsky.social @grassrootsforeurope.org are all doing similar great work too advocating for better people mobility & RejoinEU / SM.

That’s the whole problem isn’t it? Some people are only just discovering after 5 years that the withdrawal agreement didn’t protect them despite doing everything asked of them. That’s one of the the problems @francevisafree.bsky.social is trying to fix. It matters. Politicians failed them.

It’s incredibly awkward. People who resided lawfully before Brexit (some working) had all their rights taken away overnight and were told to make do with arrangements designed for holidaymakers. This is what @francevisafree.bsky.social and @180daysinspain.bsky.social are trying to fix.

Not upset by it. I think dual citizenship is great and enables a great many people to avoid ill effects of Brexit. Sad that some people can’t also have it.

It is sad, but it’s also reality You don’t even need to have dual citizenship being married or in a legally recognised relationship with a citizen of the union gives 3rd country people very similar mobility privileges Your campaign to make those privileges available to all of us needs to succeed

It is self evident that any British citizen who also holds an Irish passport is better off and able to bypass Schengen border rules like 90/180. Brexit therefore undeniably hurt some Britons more than others.

You have totally missed the point . There is no objection to the British citizens securing an Irish passport it is lawful. The central point is that there are some British citizens who are more disadvantaged than others through Brexit.

Indeed but as is widely known since Brexit there are folk who have trawled their ancestry in search of a Irish link ( or other EU Country ) in order to secure an Irish passport ( or other) in order to secure Eu citizenship & therefore by pass 90/180. All lawful.

Absolutely no need to do that . Whether it’s an Irish , German , French , Hungarian passport that is also held the British citizen who holds these is also a EU citizen . Lawful ! Fact! So drop the abuse .

No one has called out the Anglo-Irish community . You are simply seeking conflict where non exists.

In 2014 the EU Commission proposed that a new a legal instrument be introduced to authorise stays in the Schengen area longer than the current 90 days per 180 days limitation should be introduced for a specific group that included the creative artists , musicians & the retired ?

Then read more carefully and seek clarification before making allegations.

Reform UK, which says it represents “change” from Conservative failures, has so far accepted defections from: - A disgraced Tory minister sacked for tax-dodging - Disgraced Tory vice chairman suspended for racism - Disgraced former minister suspended for abandoning constituents for a reality TV gig

An interesting read that outlines the challenges & difficulties in any Brexit Reset. While the charge of cherry picking is popular among our critics even this article shows a glimmer of a different view . Where the EU sees a benefit it will compromise. ukandeu.ac.uk/new-year-sam...

The 90-in-180-day problem isn’t about holidays. It’s about care, work, homes, and binning a normal cross-border life people lawfully had for decades. Mocking that loss doesn’t make you right. It makes you small. #MobilityMatters

If your argument against fixing the 90-in-180-day problem is “well, that’s Brexit”, you’re not defending reality. You’re defending policy failure and calling it maturity. Some of us prefer solutions. #FixBrexit

In 2014 the EU Commission proposed that a new a legal instrument be introduced to authorise stays in the Schengen area longer than the current 90 days per 180 days limitation should be introduced for a specific group that included the creative artists , musicians & the retired ?

In 2014 the EU Commission recognised that for for some third country nationals the 90/180 rule was a problem & that there was a vacuum in terms of a lawful or viable way to lawfully extend the stay of some people who include the retired . The Commission proposed to solve this .

Brexit fractured people to people contacts . A Brexit Reset can repair those wounds . With both the Eu & UK supporting closer human ties one way to achieve this is to make the short stay 90 day visa waiver longer .Dogma & entrenched positions are the only barrier to change .

Why the 90/180 rule needs to change. In May 2025 EU &UK committed to supporting people-to-people contacts. The EU generally wants to reinforce ties between people across the European continent.

Issuing more multiple-entry visas with longer validity periods leads to significant "efficiency gains". By allowing longer or more flexible stays, member states can reduce the administrative burden and costs of the high volume of visas

In an evaluation of the Visa Code the European Commission explicitly acknowledged that the 90-day limit is a "problem" for certain categories of travelers, including students, researchers, artists, culture professionals, and pensioners.