The legality of staying under the visa-free regime remains a topical issue for Ukrainians who were forced to leave for Europe due to the war. According to the current rules, regardless of the presence of a residence permit in an EU country, citizens of Ukraine have the right to leave this country and stay in other Schengen countries for up to 90 days for every 180 days.

However, four non-Schengen European countries have recently increased the length of stay for Ukrainian refugees.

Countries that grant additional 90 days to visa-free travel:

- Croatia

- Romania

- Bulgaria

- Cyprus

You can stay in the above countries only with a biometric passport. Another important condition is the lack of temporary protection in one of the EU countries.

How does it work?

As Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus are not part of the Schengen area, the period of stay for tourist purposes will not be taken into account when calculating the visa-free period of 90 days under Schengen, and the rule of 90/180 days works for each country separately.

Thus, Ukrainians can legally leave the EU host country, for example, traveling from Italy for 90 days to Croatia, then for another 90 days to Bulgaria, and so on. This will not be considered a violation of the law and will not be added to visa-free days spent in Italy, as only trips to Schengen countries are taken into account.