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Brexit confusion: French authorities tell British citizen his right to residency is about to expire

A British national living in France has been told by his local social security office that his permission to reside in France is about to expire, in a case that highlights the confusion around the post-Brexit status of UK citizens.

Published: 7 August 2020 15:32 CEST
Brexit confusion: French authorities tell British citizen his right to residency is about to expire
Photo: AFP

Luke Marlow was sent a letter from the Caisse d'allocations familiale (CAF) in Moselle telling him that his right of residence would expire in September.

The letter stated: “Your right to residency is set to expire on September 10th 2020 and you will no longer be able to benefit from family allowances.”

The letter went on to ask for his titre de séjour residency permit, which British residents in France do not at present need.

While officials later admitted that he did not need a titre de séjour, it is one of several similar reported cases which highlights the confusion around the status and rights of British residents in France after Brexit.

An extract from the letter sent to Luke Marlow, a British man living in the Moselle area of France

Luke said: “I spent over an hour and a half waiting in the CAF and had to make two trips, as well as the time spent getting there and back.

“It would have been ridiculous if I weren't living in Metz, it is incredibly time-consuming.”

Groups working with British residents have reported that some people have received similar requests from their local CAF offices, while others have been asked for a carte de séjour when applying for jobs.

Justine Wallington from citizens' rights group Remain in France Together (RIFT) said: “A number of our members have experienced problems with the CAF recently.

“It's hard to say if this increase in problems is Brexit related, or if they are just sending out more of the standard droit de sejour renouvellement (right of residency renewal) forms which they have been doing for five years or more and are playing catch-up on their backlog.”

Some British drivers have also reported similar confusion over the issue of driving licences, when local gendarmes have told them that British residents in France can no longer drive on UK licences, when in fact the French government has said that for most residents, there is no need to swap their licence for a French one.

Although British citizens lost their EU citizenship on January 31st when the UK left the EU, the majority of their rights remain in place during the transition period, which lasts until December 31st 2020.

After that, individual countries have put in place their own provisions for British people already living there, under the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement which safeguards many (although not all) of the rights British people had before Brexit.

READ ALSO What is the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and does it cover me?

The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement secures a number of important rights for British people living in the EU. Photo: AFP

In France, British people do not currently need any residency permit in order to legally stay here.

All British residents have until July 2021 to apply for one of the new type of carte de séjour, via an online portal which was due to go live in July but has now been pushed back until October.

Every British citizen living in France will then have to make an application via the portal for a new residency card. Those who have a carte de séjour permenant (10 years) can simply swap their card for a new one while everyone else will have to make a new application.

You can find out more about the application process HERE.

Justine added: “If you receive one of the standard droit de sejour renouvellement forms don't worry – CAF have been sending these out for several years.

“The letter will probably start with a date when your rights to stay expire and that you need to fill out the form, sign and date it and add supporting documents.

“Your passport should “act” as your carte de séjour until we get our new ones if you don't have a carte de séjour already.

“Passports should be valid to CAF as proof for a right to stay to year-end at least (the end of the transition period) and it's reasonable to hope that they'll also be valid until new cards are issued by France in the coming year.

“For the form – where it says 'do you have a carte de séjour' you tick no and write carte de séjour non-obligatoire passport ci-joint (carte de séjour not required, passport attached) and attach a photocopy of your passport and proof you are exercising your treaty rights (copies of your tax returns if you have them) or tick yes and attach your carte de séjour if you have one.

“Where it asks for health cover – include a copy of your attestation from your health provider (usually available online through your MSA or Ameli/CPAM account).

“You will then need to fill in the section relating to whether you are employed, self-employed or in another situation.

“Consider a formal covering letter and sending it LRAR (registered post with signed receipt).

“If you don't complete this form your payments will almost certainly stop so it's not a letter to ignore.”

For many British people receiving such a letter will be worrying, especially as there has been a real lack of clarity over the rights of British nationals living in the EU. However these mistakes tend to be down to misunderstandings on the part of local officials who have not quite grasped what is, after all, a very complicated situation.

The French government has repeatedly said that it wants British people resident here to stay, and it will do all it can to facilitate the process.

Kalba Meadows from the citizens' rights group France Rights added: “We have heard of isolated cases around uninformed officials giving people the wrong information.

“The best thing for someone in that situation to do is to point to the French government Brexit website where it's clear that Brits aren't required to hold a carte de séjour until after the grace period [July 2021].”

For full detail on residency, travel, healthcare, driving and pets after Brexit, head to our Preparing for Brexit section.

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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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