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BREXIT

‘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.

READ ALSO


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.”

READ ALSO OPINION – if the UK won't stand up for the rights of Britons in Europe then it's up to us


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.”

READ ALSO 'We will miss our British councillors, they bring new ideas to France'


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

  1. 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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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

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