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READER QUESTIONS

Reader question: How can I add a non-EU booster shot to my French health pass?

Booster shots are now required in order to have a valid health or vaccine pass in France, but is it possible to add booster shots received in the USA, Canada or other non-EU countries to the French health pass?

Vaccinations given outside the EU need to be converted to a French code.
Vaccinations given outside the EU need to be converted to a French code. Photo by SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Question: I’m Canadian and travelled to France over the summer, when I got a French health pass. I’ve since had my booster back in Canada but I can’t seem to add the booster shot to the French health pass, which means it will shortly deactivate. How do I keep the pass up to date?

France’s health pass – shortly to become a vaccine pass – works with vaccination certificates from any EU or Schengen zone country, or the UK.

However those who were vaccinated outside of Europe must convert their vaccination certificates to an EU-compatible code in order to use the French pass.

The system for how to do this has changed several times since health passes were introduced over the summer, and now requires a trip to a pharmacy in France – click HERE for the full details.

However there is a new wrinkle – booster shots are now required in order to keep the health pass activated and there is a timetable for deactivating the passes of people who are eligible for a booster shot but don’t get one – click here for the full schedule.

If you got your booster shot in France, the EU, Schengen zone or UK then adding the booster shot to the health pass is easy – just scan in the code on the certificate.

If, however, your booster was received in a non-EU country, you will need to take the booster shot certificate to a French pharmacy in order the get the QR code needed to upload it to the app.

If your pass deactivates before you can get back to France this is not a problem, simply uploading the new certificate code will reactivate it.

But how do you get into France in order to visit the pharmacy and get the code if your pass has already expired?

This is important – the booster shot requirement refers only to the domestic French health pass that you use to get into bars, cafés etc.

In order to enter the country no booster is currently required. You need only to show proof of two doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna, or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen).

At the border you can show your home country’s vaccination certificate (eg the Canadian certificate), there is no requirement to have the French QR code.

Once you’re in France, you then head to the pharmacy to get the code to give you access to France’s excellent restaurants, cafés and cultural venues. 

Member comments

  1. I know the French don’t care, but this system is an insult to frequent, loyal visitors to France who jumped through all of their hoops to get our original passes. Now we are boosted but must start from square one when we return (we visit 4 times per year).

  2. My booster appears as a 3rd QR code on my NHS England certificate. I scanned it on to my Tous Anti Covid app and it was accepted. (I also rescanned the old ones as it seems Tous Anti Covid has caught up with the fact that each NHS England certificate is only valid for 30 days at a time so, somewhat irritatingly, it is necessary generate new certificates and re-scan them)

  3. Nick 76- you are lucky to live in the U.K. and have the benefit of electronic vaccine records. Americans were given a flimsy paper record with no electronic interface possible. It’s a system that does not befit a first world nation, but that’s all we got. US people have gone to great lengths to obtain the Pass Sanitaire. It is now apparently easily obtainable at a French pharmacy, which many of us who navigated the former anxiety provoking process now appreciate. It’s much more straightforward. I can only wonder, with the transmissibility of the Omicron variant, how many of these restrictions for travelers are useful and how many are pure theater. The testing on both ends of a trip, particularly the return, are producing endless anxiety and curtailing travel, as Americans are fearful of being stranded overseas.
    Normality will not return until it truly does, and all of these measures (tests, passes, etc.) are eliminated.

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For members

WORK PERMITS

Reader question: How long will it take to renew my Swiss permit?

The answer to this question, which is, naturally, of concern to foreign nationals living in Switzerland, depends on several factors.

Reader question: How long will it take to renew my Swiss permit?

The first thing to consider is what kind of work/residency permit you have, as different rules apply.

Let’s look at the long-term B permits and permanent residency C permits that most foreign nationals living in Switzerland are likely to have.

Typically in both of these cases, you will receive a letter from local authorities approximately six weeks before the deadline reminding you to renew.

There will also be an application form that you will need to fill out, which must be submitted to your commune of residence no earlier than three months and no later than two weeks prior to the expiration date.

READ ALSO: When and how should you renew your Swiss residence permit?

Some cantons also impose additional rules for certain categories of foreigners. 

In Geneva, for instance, non-EU/EFTA spouses of B or C permit holders must include a French language certificate if it had not yet been done previously.

Further, for nationals of a non-EU/EFTA state who depend on social assistance for an amount equal to or greater than 50,000 francs for a single person or 80,000 francs for a household of several people, a letter indicating the reasons for the dependence on government aid and the steps taken to get out of it must be submitted.

In Vaud, “your situation and your degree of integration are examined, in particular your financial autonomy”.

Your canton may have other special rules in place as well, so it’s good to find them out beforehand, allowing you to submit all the necessary paperwork with your renewal application.

How long does the renewal process take?

The extension of your current permit may depend on various factors set by your canton which, in turn, may determine how long the renewal process will take.

In straightforward cases, you will receive the renewal within two to four weeks. However, this timeline is not set in stone.

It may happen that the new permit is not immediately issued, because the volumes of applications to be processed are very large, especially in cantons with a sizeable foreign population like Geneva, Zurich, Basel, and Vaud.

And the stricter the regulations (as mentioned above), the longer the process is likely to take.

Can authorities refuse to extend your permit?

Yes, that can happen under certain circumstances.

For instance, short-term L or B permits that are tied to a particular job, which ends within the specified time period (usually up to a year), will expire when the contract is over.

As non-EU / EFTA nationals are subject to a quota system, their work permits are not automatically renewed either.

Other reasons include lack of integration or dependence on welfare, as mentioned above. Also, if you’ve committed serious crimes or other infractions, you can kiss your permit goodbye.

And if you forgot to apply for renewal in the first place, then you forfeit your right to the permit.

The authorities could take special circumstances, such as serious illness, a debilitating accident, or another extreme situation into consideration and make an exception, but you shouldn’t count on that.

READ ALSO: Can Swiss authorities refuse to renew work permits — and for what reasons?

What if you applied on time and provided all the required documentation, but your permit expired before a new one was issued?

The good news is that, if you are a holder of either a long-term B or settlement C permit, your rights are protected while you wait for the renewal.

You can continue to work and live in Switzerland as before.

Under the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, “when the person concerned has submitted an application to extend a permit, he or she is authorised to stay in Switzerland during the procedure, provided that no other decision has been taken”.

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