A survey by the citizens’ rights group Remain in France Together (RIFT) found that of those who have applied for the card, hundreds are still waiting and some have had no contact from their local issuing authority.

All Brits who were living in France before December 31st 2020 must apply for a carte de séjour – even those who are married to a French citizen or who previously held a European carte de séjour.

If you have not yet applied – here’s how to go about it.

The deadline for applications was originally June 30th, this was extended by three months to September 30th. However the deadline to be in possession of the card remains at October 1st – just two weeks away.

READ ALSO What happens to Brits who don’t have residency before the deadline?

RIFT conducted a survey of nearly 3,000 Brits living in France and found that although 75 percent had got their cards, 25 percent were still waiting.

In total of the 2,917 survey respondents who had applied for the card, 749 (25.67 percent) reported not having yet received it and 354 had not yet been contacted by their préfecture following submission of their online application.

The remaining 395 had either been sent a date for the appointment at the préfecture, or had attended the appointment but were still waiting for the card to be delivered.

The préfectures with the highest number of outstanding applications were Bouches-du-Rhône (which includes Marseille), Charente, Côtes-d’Armor, Hérault, Var and Vienne.

Although the bulk of outstanding applications were from people who had applied for the card within the last couple of months, the survey also found outstanding cases from older applications, with several dozen applicants who applied in November and December 2020 still waiting.

Previously the official advice for people still waiting has been not to contact the préfecture, as many local officials were struggling with the numbers of applications to process.

However RIFT now advises that if you have not been contacted by the préfecture to get in touch with them by email – addresses should be on the préfecture website. Queries should include your full name, the date you applied and the reference number from the automated response when you submitted the application online.

If there is no email contact, you can send a lettre recommandée (registered post letter) with the same details.

In light of the survey results, RIFT is calling on the French government to extend the October 1st deadline.

The group spokesman said: “If our survey results mirror the situation for all UK Nationals and their family members across France, many thousands will be in a precarious situation on October 1st 2021.

“The French Government has not yet officially changed the deadline and there are so few working days left.  

“We call on the French Government to please give official notification of an extension immediately and to declare the number of applications made and finalised. Clear communication is vital.”

For more information on residency, how to apply and what to do in case of problems, head to the RIFT homepage or our Dealing with Brexit section.