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According to Glen Brown, “One of the greatest things about Andorra is that the country is outside the EU and this is why you get duty free. This means when you need to do your 90 days out of the Schengen zone you can do those 90 days in Andorra if you wanted to and then slip back into the Schengen zone for another 90 days again.”

I am suspicious that there is some detail that Mr. Brown has overlooked.  I read elsewhere that Andorra had agreements with both Spain and France to not let in anyone who isn’t legally authorized to be in those countries. I’ve also read a claim that Andorra allows a tourist 183 days and another saying it is only ninety.  An actual residence permit has a set of financial requirements much higher than that of Spain.

Would it actually be legal to alternate between Andorra and France or Spain?

If Andorra limits one to ninety days, and measures it the same way Schengen does, then I think it wouldn’t work, because the day you cross the border counts for both.

Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Schengen_Area#How_many_micro_states?

WGroleau
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2 Answers2

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Would it actually be legal to alternate between Andorra and France or Spain?

Yes, on condition that when entering Andorra you have a Schengen Area exit stamp and when leaving Andorra have a Schengen Area entry stamp.

As far as the Schengen Border Code, is concerned, it is the proper entry/exit stamps that counts (assuming you don't require a visa) for short term stays.

Without the entry/exit stamps you are assumed to have overstayed (Article 12 (1,4)), unless you can prove otherwise (Article 12 (2)).

Schengen Border Code
Article 12
Presumption as regards fulfilment of conditions of duration of stay
(1) If the travel document of a third-country national does not bear an entry stamp, the competent national authorities may presume that the holder does not fulfil, or no longer fulfils, the conditions of duration of stay applicable within the Member State concerned.
(2) The presumption referred to in paragraph 1 may be rebutted where the third-country national provides, by any means, credible evidence, such as transport tickets or proof of his or her presence outside the territory of the Member States, that he or she has respected the conditions relating to the duration of a short stay.
...
(4) The relevant provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis in the absence of an exit stamp.

Sources:

Mark Johnson
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Although Andorra’s agreements with France and Spain make it effectively part of Schengen, this can (allegedly) be avoided by requesting entry and exit stamps at the border.  I’m skeptical, due to the near impossibility of being able to prove one spent all the claimed time (ninety days) within Andorra’s borders.  Since checks aren't generally done at Andorra's borders, it would be easy to get a stamp at the Spanish border control site, immediately leave at another site, and reverse the procedure 90+ days later.  Of course, that would be illegal and would present a (small) risk of being caught—a Spanish official might look through your passport and see that you entered Andorra but don't have an exit stamp.

WGroleau
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