EU–Andorra border deal: what it means for your Schengen day count

What happened

According to SchengenVisaInfo, the Andorran government presented an EU–Andorra border management agreement to the General Council's foreign affairs committee on 6 November 2026. Under it, non-EU nationals with legal residency in Andorra could travel to all Schengen countries for up to 90 days within any 180-day period without a visa.

The publisher reports that these residents must be checked by either France or Spain, and that their visits will count towards their Schengen limits. They would not have to register in the Entry/Exit System (EES), have their passports stamped or hold an ETIAS travel authorisation, according to Article 22 as the publisher describes it.

The agreement is not yet in force. It still needs to be signed, and the government says it hopes to apply it provisionally.

Why it came about

Andorra is not part of the EU or Schengen, but it is surrounded by two Schengen countries, France and Spain. The report says there are no airports with scheduled commercial flights, so there have never been systematic checks on people entering Andorra.

That became a problem when the EES became fully operational on all external borders on 10 April 2026. The European Commission said in its 7 September 2026 proposal that without an agreement, non-EU residents of Andorra could be wrongly flagged as overstayers because no exit was registered when they left the Schengen area. The Commission noted this could cause problems with future visa, ETIAS and residency applications.

Foreign Affairs Minister Imma Tor told the committee that strict enforcement of the EES would have "caused serious harm to the economy and to all our citizens", according to the report.

What it means if you count days

The report describes a gap between what the EES records and what a traveller actually did: because Andorra has never had systematic checks, an exit may not be registered. For Andorra's non-EU residents, the agreement is presented as the fix, with France or Spain checking them.

Until the agreement takes effect, the report says non-EU residents have free movement only between Andorra, Spain and France. Other Schengen countries impose their own entry and transit requirements. The short-stay right is also limited: each Schengen country may require a visa or work permit for paid employment, and Andorran residency does not give the right to live elsewhere in Europe.

If you travel through Andorra, or are weighing up a stay in the region, it is worth keeping your own dated record of when you crossed between Andorra, France and Spain. The agreement is not yet in force, so check official sources for how the rules apply to your situation before relying on any of this.

Where Staymark fits

Staymark counts one trip log three ways: Schengen 90/180, the UK Statutory Residence Test and US substantial presence. The same trip log feeds each count, so you do not need three separate records.

Staymark counts days.