The rules side by side
| Rule | Day you leave | Day you arrive | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schengen 90/180 (short stays) | Counts as a day in Schengen | Counts as a day in Schengen | Schengen |
| US citizenship (USCIS physical presence) | Day in the US | Day in the US | N-400 |
| US tax (IRS substantial presence test) | Day in the US (any part of a day counts) | Day in the US | SPT |
| UK ILR and British citizenship | Not an absence | Not an absence | ILR, citizenship |
| UK tax (statutory residence test) | Usually not a UK day (not in the UK at midnight) | Usually a UK day (in the UK at midnight) | SRT |
| Canada citizenship and PR obligation | Day in Canada | Day in Canada | Citizenship, PR |
| Australian citizenship | Day in Australia | Day in Australia | Citizenship |
| New Zealand citizenship | Day in NZ | Day in NZ | Citizenship |
What this means in practice
Take a trip that leaves on 1 March and returns on 10 March:
- As an absence for UK ILR, US, Canadian, Australian or NZ citizenship: 8 days away (2–9 March). You were in the country for part of the 1st and the 10th.
- As a stay in the Schengen Area (if 1–10 March was a trip to Europe): 10 days used, because both the entry and exit days count.
- For the UK tax residence test, the question is where you were at midnight. If you flew out of the UK on 1 March and back on 10 March, the 10th counts as a UK day (you were home at midnight) but the 1st usually doesn't.
The difference is small on one trip but adds up. Ten trips a year counted the wrong way can be 20 days out, easily the difference between meeting a limit and missing it.
Common pitfalls
- Overnight flights and time zones. Use the local date where you crossed the border, as shown on your passport stamp, boarding pass or official travel record.
- Same-day trips. For the UK Home Office, part-day absences don't count at all. USCIS asks you to list trips of more than 24 hours on Form N-400.
- Transit. Changing planes airside without passing passport control usually doesn't count as entering a country. The IRS and HMRC also have specific transit exceptions.
- Mixing up the Schengen count with an absence count. A 10-day European holiday uses 10 Schengen days but may be only 8 days of absence from your home country.
Each AbroadDays calculator applies the right convention automatically. Enter the dates exactly as they appear in your records.