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‘It’s as if I’m invisible – a non person’ Brits in France share their Brexit day heartbreak

As the day dawns at last, British people living in France have been sharing their feelings about Brexit - disappointment, depression, fear, anger and betrayal.

Published: 31 January 2020 08:00 CET

'It's as if I'm invisible - a non person' Brits in France share their Brexit day heartbreak

Photo: Brunel Johnson, Unsplash

We have known it was coming for three years now, but repeated Brexit delays and chaos within UK politics had allowed some a glimmer of hope that maybe it wouldn't after all.

But now that has been snuffed out and at midnight today (11pm in the UK) the UK will exit the EU and British people will lose their EU citizenship.

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Many British residents in France travelled back to the UK to participate in the huge anti-Brexit marches. Photo: AFP

We asked some British people living in France about their emotions now that the day is here.

Linda Fisher, who has lived in Charente for 16 years said: “I feel immense sadness that we will no longer be part of this family of nations.

“We are going to like-minded friends in France for a dinner tonight – not of celebration, but probably commiserations.

“My main worry now is the bloody British government cocking up any and all relationships with the EU. Health cover and freedom of movement worry me too.”

Jeremy Burston, who has lived in France for 17 years, said: “I think the UK is making a catastrophic mistake which they don't understand yet. My friends and relatives are going to suffer.”

Frank Grisaffi, who has lived in France for nine years, said: “I feel devastated and miserable. The social, political and economic costs to the UK will be significant and will reverberate for many years.

“I'll probably spend the day apologising to my French friends and neighbours.”

Des Coulam, who has lived in France for 21 years, said: “I am very disappointed but not at all surprised. Britain has always been a reluctant member of the EU. Britain voted for Brexit so now they will get what they voted for. Sadly, I'm sure that most of those who voted to leave haven't a clue about what they voted for or what the consequences will be.

“There is a lot of continued uncertainty for me personally.”

David Ash, who has been living in Drôme for five years, had an unusual idea for marking the day. He said: “At midnight I will play Ode to Joy on my bagpipes in front of an EU flag draped over my balcony.”

Some say they have no confidence in the UK government to protect its citizens who live abroad. Photo: AFP

Frank Andrews, 27, has lived in Paris for three years and is currently completing a Masters degree at Sciences Po University in Paris.

He said: “As someone who voted remain, I had hoped for a while that there might be a second referendum. But I have gradually realised that trying to reverse the referendum would be undemocratic and sow so much rage and ire in the country that it would not be worth it. It would give [former UKIP leader] Nigel Farage ammunition 10 years ahead.”

Catherine Bennet has lived in France for nearly eight years now and has French nationality.

She said: “I’m fortunate that the practicalities of Brexit don’t affect me, seeing as I have a French nationality. But, on a personal level, I feel like one of my two nationalities doesn't really count for much anymore. That is really upsetting.

“Brexit makes me horrendously sad. It’s a huge loss for the country. I feel like I’ve had so many opportunities thanks to being European and I’m horrified that future generations won’t have the same opportunities.”

Rafi Nispel, 27, has lived in France for a year and does part-time shifts in a bar and a restaurant.

“Brexit is a bit of a tricky situation for me personally,” he said. “Everything seems pretty uncertain right now. I’m not sure about what the visa requirements are going to be like, which makes it difficult to plan ahead.

“I don’t work full-time, but have a lot of extra jobs while I work on my own projects, which is a source of worry with respect to what happens after the transition period.

“All of my family voted leave except for me. We only spoke about it a year after the vote. I don’t feel disappointment towards my family. They had their reasons for voting for Brexit. I think there was more confusion than a feeling of real division really.”

Colin Young, who has been in Paris for five years, said: “I'm tired of feeling angry about it. I'd like to be proven wrong in my pessimistic outlook for Britain.”

Susan Smith, who has been living in Narbonne for 16 years, said: “I feel disassociated. I belong nowhere. I can't vote anywhere. It's as if I am invisible, a non-person.”

For many the loss of European citizenship feels like an illness or an amputation. Photo: AFP

Barbara Mary Osborne, who has lived in Normandy for 24 years, said: “I feel kind of jilted by those who voted brexit for all the trouble it has caused us here in France, and they knew none of it before they voted!

“I worry about healthcare, but also the attitude of the French people to us as people here living amongst them.”

Charlotte Ann Swift, who started her life in France as a seasonal worker in the French Alps and made the move full time in 2014, said: “It's awful. I feel as though my legs have been cut off.”

Martin Ryley who has been in France for 19 years said: “I feel sad, let down, ashamed that the people have been duped by power hungry manipulators.”

Fernley Thompson, who has lived in France for seven years, said: “I'll probably get drunk and fly my French, Scottish and EU flags on my house.”

Paul Burges, who has been in France for 17 years, said: “My biggest concern is that the attitude of the British Government will be 'out of sight, out of mind'. Which I believe will cause many problems for the older people who settled in Europe in all good faith, and the younger generation who made the decision to live and work within Europe.”

Rowland Buckland, who has been in France for 15 years, said: “I feel depressed and if we cannot stay here as a couple we will not have a country to live in unless we end our marriage and go back to our respective birth countries of UK and America.”

Kevin Baughen said: “In the short-term, life is going to get much more expensive and that is a worry. Longer-term, we suspect our business will suffer as it is built on experience tourism – over 55 percent comes from the UK.

“On the day itself we will spend time with friends celebrating what we have in France rather than thinking about the UK.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send us your thoughts and feelings, we didn't have room to include them all but it was very powerful to hear so many voices from different parts of France and people in different situations.

Member comments

Anonymous - 1 February 2020 at 00:30 CET

Rowland Buckland – I don’t know about England, but you could get a green card in the US based on your marriage to a US citizen. Most countries allow spouces of citizens to stay somehow, so I have a hard time imagining the UK not allowing it as well. That said, hopefully you can work things out so you can just stay in France.
I pray it all works out well for you.

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9 things Brits need to know about moving to France since Brexit

Brits who want to move to France now face a radically different process from those who took advantage of EU freedom of movement to make the move before Brexit.

It’s a more complicated process – but it’s still possible and 8,700 UK nationals moved to France in 2023.

Here are some of the big things you need to know before making the move.

1 Visa

The biggest post-Brexit change is that Brits moving to France now require a visa (unless they have dual nationality with an EU country).

The visa must be applied for first, and only when it is granted can you make the move – you cannot come to France and then apply for residency (unless you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, more on that below).

There are various different types of visas depending on what you intend to do in France – work, study, retire etc – and many of them contain conditions eg people on a ‘visitor’ visa are not permitted to work in France.

It makes things less flexible as it’s harder to change your plans once you have arrived. It also means that it’s harder to have a ‘half and half’ lifestyle – eg retire from your day job and move to France to run a gîte or B&B.

Explained: What type of French visa do you need

The best visa type is undoubtedly the ‘Talent Passport’, so it’s worth checking whether you fit any of the criteria for this visa type.

2 Residency card

Once you have your visa and have moved to France this is very far from being the end of the process.

You will need to apply for a residency card after a certain period (usually three months but different visa types have different rules) and according to your personal situation you may also be required to attend a compulsory medical, language classes and ‘integration’ classes through the French office of immigration and integration (OFII) – more on that here.

3 Health cover

When it comes to health there is some good news – Brits have retained many of their pre-Brexit rights to healthcare.

While you may need to provide proof of private health cover for your visa (depending on the visa type) once you have been resident in France for three months you are entitled to register in the French health system, which covers most of your medical costs.

Full details on how to register HERE.

Brits who are retired and have reached UK pension age also retain their right to an S1 – the status which entitles you to register in the French health system, while the UK continues to pay your medical costs.

4 Remote working

The rise in remote working means that the dream of moving abroad seems much closer for working-age people – since you will be able to work remotely in your native language, maybe even keep your existing job and simply relocate.

While this is possible, you need to do careful research in advance to ensure that work is compliant with your visa and tax situation. Unlike some countries, France does not have a ‘digital nomad visa’ or other visa types aimed at remote workers, in fact the visa rules were written before remote working became widespread, which is why there are some grey areas.

Most lawyers advise getting a working visa (salarié if you are working remotely for a French company as an employee, or auto-entrepreneur for freelancers) and paying social contributions in France. Find full details on visa and tax implications.

You also need to be aware that being a remote working can have an effect on your long-term plans in France – for example if after five years of residence you intend to apply for French citizenship you will need to prove that the ‘centre of your economic activity’ in in France. If all your work is done remotely for foreign companies then this could be a reason to have citizenship refused.

5 Working restrictions

If you want to work in France (remotely or not) you first need to check if there are any restrictions on your profession – certain types of work are ‘regulated professions’ in France, which means you will need specific French qualifications and/or registration within a French guild or professional organisation. The number of professions that are ‘regulated’ is surprisingly wide – taking in everything from chimney sweeping to hairdressing.

The next step is whether your qualifications will be recognised in France – EU countries generally recognise most of each other’s qualifications apart from in certain specific areas like medicine, but this is no longer the case for qualifications gained in the UK – more details here.

There are also certain jobs that are restricted to French citizens only, while others – including working in the public sector in positions including being a librarian – are limited to EU citizens only.

In visa terms, the simplest way for working-age people to come to France is as a salarié (employee) but to do this you will need a job already in place and your new employers will have to act as sponsors for your visa and may also be required to get a work permit for you. All of which means that Brits are less attractive as employees than EU citizens, which makes getting a job harder.

The other option is to be self-employed as either a freelancer, contractor or running a small business – this is a more complicated visa to get, requiring a detailed business plan. Once in France you need to register yourself as a small business/self-employed and register with Urssaf.

6 Tax

If you are living in France, then you will need to do the annual income tax declaration – even if all your income comes from abroad and you are retired/not working in France.

Full details on that HERE.

This was in fact the case before Brexit as well but previously there was a little more flexibility for people who split their time between France and the UK. These days if you want to be here for the majority of the year then you will need a visa/residency card, which removes much of the ambiguity about who is a ‘resident’.

The main post-Brexit difference is the rate at which prélèvements sociaux (social charges, similar to National Insurance) are charged on overseas income (eg earnings from work in the UK or income from renting out a UK property).

The rate is 7.5 percent for income from an EU country and 17.2 percent for income from a non-EU country – after Brexit, UK income switched to the non-EU rate.

7 Driving licence

Foreigners who make France their home will sooner or later need to swap their driving licence for a French one. This too was the case even before Brexit, but many UK or NI licence holders never got round to making the switch, and there wasn’t a lot of enforcement of the rule.

This has now been tightened up and UK/NI licence holders will need to swap their licences for a French one – the exact details of when you make the swap are slightly different for Brits than from other non-EU nationals due to a specific UK-France deal. Find full details HERE.

If you want to bring a car with you from the UK to France, you will also need to re-register it as French – full details HERE.

8 Banks

Most people moving to France will want to set up a French bank account for daily life, but you may also need a UK account, especially if you are a pensioner as some pensions will only pay into a UK account.

However since Brexit some of the biggest UK high street banks have been closing the accounts of their customers who do not live in the UK.

Alternatives include specific ‘expat’ accounts or internet banks – more details HERE.

9 The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement

It’s worth mentioning the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement even though most of it will not apply to newcomers. In brief, the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement covered people who moved to France prior to December 31st 2020, and intended to give them an easy way to remain in France and retain at least some of their pre-Brexit rights.

In general it does not apply to newcomers unless you are a close family member of someone who is covered by the Withdrawal Agreement – either a spouse or civil partner (in which case you must have married/ registered your partnership prior to December 31st 2020) or child. These people have a different path to residency, and can arrive in France and then request residency via the local préfecture of the family member who is already living here.

It’s also worth mentioning because of how different it is to the situation for new arrivals. It’s normal to ask Brits already living in France how they found the whole process – but if someone starts to tell you that getting residency is easy, the first question that you need to ask is when they moved here.

Those here prior to 2021 did indeed get an easy process – they had a special website to apply online for (free) residency cards and received straight away either a 5-year or 10-year card. This is a totally difference process to the one for Brits moving to France now.

If you’re asking around you would be better talking to Americans, Canadians or other non-EU nationals since their process is much more similar to that now in place for Brits.

. . . And new deals/visas/residency permits for Brits

Every now and again UK media will report which great excitement the possibility of a ‘new deal’ for Brits that will make moving to France, or buying a second home here, easier.

These reports should all be taken with a pinch of salt – there are currently no negotiations underway that would affect the process of Brits moving to France, and even if something is proposed in the near future it will likely take years to come into effect because these types of international agreements usually happen slowly.

A proposal for a ‘youth mobility scheme’ from the EU was rejected out of hand by British politicians before it had even been formally offered.

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