Since June 2017, Dr Michaela Benson – a British researcher from Goldsmiths University in London – has interviewed more than 100 Britons in France to find out how the long, drawn-out Brexit process has impacted them both emotionally and materially.
Before the shock 2016 referendum result Brits in France were hardly “scrutinised” by French authorities because, just like in the UK, there was no requirement to register as residents.
But since then they have been forced to emerge and show their faces to French officials whom they must now convince they are and have been legally resident here.
READ ALSO So you're living in France, but are you legally resident here?
AFP
While thousands have gone down the route of seeking citizenship most – encouraged by French officials and the British embassy, applied for a Carte de Séjour residency permit.
That was until uncertainty around a no-deal Brexit and the sheer number of applicants forced authorities in many parts of France to put a temporary halt on applications.
Thousands more have done nothing, preferring to wait until the future is a little clearer.
With the British parliament giving the Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement the green light on Wednesday, it's now almost a formality that Brexit will happen on January 31st.
Withdrawal Agreement won't ease anxiety
While Brexit might at least mark the end of three and a half years of limbo for Britons in France, it's unlikely to really encourage them to feel more secure about their futures.
Benson believes Leigh is just one of the first to “fall between the gaps”.
READ ALSO What the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement means for British people in France
The Local was also contacted by a British pensioner, living in the south west who was turned down for a carte de séjour over a combination of the fact his main income was through French welfare benefits and that he mistakenly had not declared his very small British pension to French tax authorities.
He has since moved to retroactively declare his pension and has appealed the verdict.
Benson believes cases like this could just the be the tip of the iceberg.
“People are confused. Part of the problem is that in France people were never questioned about their right to be there permanently.
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