Passport Pilot · Reference
Glossary
The terms travellers and long-stay visa applicants meet most often, explained in plain English. Each entry is permanently linkable — copy any term's anchor to share a single definition.
- 90/180 rule §
- The Schengen short-stay limit. Visa-exempt third-country nationals may spend up to 90 days inside the Schengen Area within any rolling 180-day period. The limit applies to the area as a whole, not per country.
- D7 visa §
- A Portuguese long-stay visa for non-EU citizens with passive income — pensions, rental income, dividends, royalties — sufficient to support themselves without working in Portugal. Granted for one year initially, then renewable as a residence permit; days in Portugal under a D7 do not count against the Schengen 90/180 allowance for Portugal.
- Entry/Exit System EES §
- The EU's biometric border-crossing register, replacing manual passport stamping for short-stay travellers at all Schengen external borders. EES records each entry and exit with facial image and fingerprints, computes the 90/180 balance automatically, and flags overstays in real time.
- ETIAS §
- European Travel Information and Authorisation System. A pre-travel authorisation visa-exempt third-country nationals must obtain online before flying to a Schengen country, valid for three years or until the linked passport expires. ETIAS is not a visa and does not extend the 90/180 limit.
- NHR Non-Habitual Resident §
- A Portuguese tax regime offering reduced or zero tax on certain foreign-source income and a flat 20% rate on qualifying Portuguese-source income, for ten years. The original NHR scheme closed to new applicants in 2024; a narrower successor regime (NHR 2.0 / IFICI) applies to qualifying scientific and innovation roles only.
- NIE Número de Identidad de Extranjero §
- The Spanish foreigner identification number, required for almost any administrative or financial act in Spain — opening a bank account, signing a rental contract, paying tax, buying property. The number itself is not a residence permit; the physical residence card is the TIE.
- Rolling 180-day window §
- The reference period used by the Schengen 90/180 rule. On any given day, the previous 180 days are inspected and days of presence inside the Schengen Area are counted. The window moves forward with the traveller; it does not reset on a fixed calendar date.
- Schengen Area §
- A zone of 29 European states that have abolished checks at their mutual borders and operate a common external border. Includes most EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Ireland and Cyprus are EU members outside Schengen; Bulgaria and Romania joined fully on 1 January 2025.
- Schengen Borders Code §
- Regulation (EU) 2016/399, the consolidated EU law governing the movement of persons across both internal and external borders of the Schengen Area. Article 6 sets the entry conditions for third-country nationals, including the 90/180 short-stay limit.
- Schengen Information System SIS §
- The shared EU database used by border guards, police and consulates across the Schengen Area to flag wanted persons, missing persons, refused entries and certain stolen documents. An overstay can be recorded in SIS as an entry ban, visible to every member state at every future crossing.
- Tax-residency threshold §
- The number of days' physical presence in a country, in a given period, that triggers tax residency under that country's domestic law. The 183-day rule is the most common formulation, but several countries (notably the UK with its Statutory Residence Test) apply more elaborate multi-factor tests, and double-taxation treaties can override domestic thresholds.
- Third-country national §
- In EU law, any person who is not a citizen of an EU member state and not a beneficiary of EU free movement (so excluding EEA and Swiss nationals). British citizens have been third-country nationals for Schengen purposes since 1 January 2021.
- TIE Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero §
- The physical foreigner identity card issued in Spain to non-EU residents holding a valid residence authorisation. The card carries the holder's NIE, photograph and residence category, and must be carried at all times.
- Visto per residenza elettiva §
- The Italian elective-residency visa, available to non-EU citizens with sufficient stable passive income (pensions, rental income, annuities) who wish to live in Italy without working. The visa explicitly prohibits any form of employment, including remote work for a foreign employer.
- VLS-T Visa de long séjour temporaire §
- A French national long-stay visa for stays between four and twelve months, granted for purposes such as visitor, student, or accompanying family member. Issued by a French consulate before departure; time spent in France under a VLS-T is outside the Schengen 90/180 count for France.