Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

TOURISM

Travel to France: What has changed since Brexit?

The Brexit transition period ended on January 1st 2021, but Covid-related travel restrictions means that many people have not travelled abroad since then - so here's what you need to know about what has changed.

Published: 14 May 2021 09:19 CEST
Updated: 28 July 2022 10:37 CEST
Travel to France: What has changed since Brexit?
Travel from the UK to France is more complicated since Brexit. Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP

Passports

Your British passport of course remains a valid travel document, even if it no longer makes you a citizen of the EU. However, two things have changed here.

First your passport needs to have at least three months of validity left for travel into the EU (although some travel operators demand six months validity, so check carefully when booking). If your passport runs for longer than 10 years, which some do, the situation is slightly more complicated – it might be easier to say it should be renewed nine and a half years after it was issued.

Second your passport is likely to be stamped as you enter France, so that authorities can see clearly your date of entry.

The passports of Brits who are permanent residents in France should not be stamped but they will need to show proof of residency such as a carte de séjour or visa- here’s what to do if your passport is stamped in error.

Visas

If you are entering France for a short holiday, to visit family or friends or make a short visit to your second home you do not need a visa. However if you are moving to France to live or intending to stay longer than 90 days in a 180-day period you will need either a visa or a residency permit – find out more about the 90-day rule HERE.

If you are coming to France to work you may need both a visa and a work permit depending on the type and duration of your work – full details HERE.

France is thankfully not actually locking up Brits who don’t have the correct paperwork, but there are still checks and you can be turned back at the border if you try to enter France for a longer stay without the correct paperwork.

Extra paperwork

When entering France as a non-EU national you may be asked to provide any of the following at the border.

In practice the level of enforcement on this varies and most people will not be asked, but French border guards are within their rights to ask you for;

  • Proof of accommodation during your stay (booking for hotel, gîte, Airbnb or B&B for tourists, second-home owners may need to provide proof of address such as a utility bill and if you’re staying with friends or family you may need an Attestation d’accueil, see below)
  • A return ticket or the means to acquire one
  • Sufficient financial means to cover basic costs during your stay. The guideline figures for this are; €65 per day if you have a hotel booking, €120 per day if you have no hotel booking, €32.50 per day if you are staying with friends or family
  • Insurance that covers health costs and the cost of repatriation if required (see health cover section below)
  • If you are transiting through France you may be asked for proof of your right to enter your final destination

READ ALSO Health insurance – what are the post-Brexit rules for Brits visiting France

Registering British guests with the Town Hall?

You may have seen reports that anyone who is hosting a British guest in their home has to register in advance with their local Mairie. Here is how this works, and the alternative if obtaining the attestation d’acceuil is not possible. 

90-days

With the ending of freedom of movement comes the 90-day rule, which states that out of every 180 days, Brits can only spend 90 of them within the EU without a visa or residency permit.

You can find a full explanation of the 90-day rule HERE, together with the Schengen calculator that allows you to work out our allowance.

It’s worth pointing out that the 90-day limit applies to the whole EU and Schengen zone, not just France. 

Health cover

In case you need healthcare while in France you will need either an EHIC or a GHIC health insurance card, or private health or travel insurance.

Be aware, that the EHIC/GHIC only covers emergency care and do not include the cost of things like repatriation. If you are travelling without a visa or residency card you may need to show proof that you have cover for repatriation costs, but this can be through either health insurance or travel insurance, there is no requirement for a separate health insurance policy to enter France.

Phones

Remember the olden days when you had to either turn off data roaming on your mobile phone when leaving the UK or face a big bill on your return? Well, they are back for customers of certain providers.

The EU clamped down on excessive roaming charges, but companies operating in the UK are no longer bound by that rule. After initially saying that they would not increase charges, an increasing number of phone companies have announced the return of extra charges for using your phone abroad, so make sure you check with your provider if you don’t want to be hit with a big bill. 

READ ALSO How to avoid big ‘roaming’ bills in France

Driving

While driving licences have been a thorny issue for British residents in France there is better news for visitors – you can continue to drive on your UK or NI licence in France and there is no need for an International Drivers’ Permit.

The European Commission has also announced that it will waive the requirement for British drivers to have a ‘green card’ from their insurance company.

You will, however, need to swap the ‘GB’ sticker on your vehicle for a new UK sticker.

Ham sandwiches and other British delicacies

There are now strict rules on what products you can bring into the EU from the UK, which rule out almost all animal products (meat, fish, dairy etc) as well as flowers and plants.

Find the full list of banned items HERE.

Furniture, DIY and other high-value items

As well as the products that are banned outright, there is also a limit on the total value of goods you can bring in – any loads of more than €430 in value can be liable to import duties.

There is an exemption for people moving to France with all their worldly goods, but not for second-home owners who want to bring over furniture or DIY items for a renovation project. Full details on the rules HERE.

If you are coming to France to work and are bringing equipment other than a laptop with you, you will need a detailed inventory and a carnet.

Pets

And it’s not just people who have stricter travel rules, the European Pet Passport is no longer valid for UK-dwelling pets to travel into France. Instead you will need to see your vet ahead of your trip to get an Animal Health Certificate – full details HERE. Unlike the Pet Passport, a new AHC is required for every trip.

After some initial confusion, French authorities have clarified the rules for pets belonging to second-home owners. 

Delays

All these new rules obviously mean more checks at the border, so check-in times can take longer. Passengers travelling from the port of Dover, the Folkestone Channel Tunnel terminal and the London St Pancras Eurostar terminal have all reported much longer queues, so make sure you arrive in plenty of time.

READ ALSO Will UK-France travel be a nightmare all summer?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

SHOW COMMENTS