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VISAS

‘Not complicated but expensive’: What it’s like getting a French visa as a Brit after Brexit

Following Brexit, UK nationals enter the world of visas and residency permits if they want to move to France. We asked British journalist and recent successful visa applicant Joseph Keen to talk us through the process.

Published: 16 September 2021 11:30 CEST
Updated: 19 September 2021 10:52 CEST
'Not complicated but expensive': What it's like getting a French visa as a Brit after Brexit
Photo: Valery Hache/AFP

I have wanted to move to Paris for a while now, to work here as a freelance journalist and to improve my French language skills. I also have a strong interest in the history and the culture of France.

I knew that since Brexit I would need a visa, and this process turned out to be more straightforward but significantly more expensive than I though.

As I intend to work as a freelancer, I decided to apply for a one year-long self employed visa – visa de long séjour entrepreneur/libérale.

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The application had to be done from the UK, and within three months of my arrival date in France.

First, I had to apply through the website of the French embassy in London – here.

I was then referred to TLS contact’s website (visa and consular services) here where I had to book an appointment at the visa application centre for an in-person appointment (there are centres in London, Manchester and Edinburgh).

There was of course paperwork required and I had to provide

  • Passport
  • Passport photographs
  • Bank statements for the past three months. It wasn’t specified how much money you needed in the accounts, I had saved up enough for four months on French minimum wage (€1,231 per month) and that seemed to be enough
  • Proof of three months accommodation in France. I used a three-month Airbnb booking for this, but there was an option to stay with friends or relatives
  • A criminal record check

None of my documents needed to be translated into French.

For the criminal record check, I had to go through the ACRO Criminal Records Office in the UK. The check costs £55 (€64) for the standard service, which takes around two weeks to be completed, or £95 (€111) for an express service which takes four working days to be processed.

READ ALSO Ask the expert: What Brits need to know about post-Brexit visa requirements

At my interview, I had to explain my specific situation of being a freelance journalist and what this entails (which did prove to be difficult) and then give the details of an employer in France (which of courser I don’t have, being freelance).

After finally managing to explain my situation, I had to pay a fee of €99 and my application along with my passport was sent off.

To my surprise, within five days I was able to pick up my passport and I was granted the visa.

Since arriving in France, I have had to apply for a carte de séjour residence permit. This has to be done within three months of arriving and although the process was simple and quick I had to pay another €200 for that.

I’m not sure if I was lucky or perhaps with it being so soon after the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, there was a desire for some level of continuity, but the process itself went fairly smoothly.

However, despite being relatively straightforward in my experience, it’s significantly more expensive (with the visa application fee, criminal record check and residence permit) than the process would have been had I moved before Brexit, when UK nationals did not need visas or residency permits.

In the short time I have been in France, I’m really enjoying myself and so far, I’m very happy I decided to apply.

Joseph Keen is a freelance journalist based in Paris, you can follow him on Twitter @Koekeen95

For more on the details of visas and residence permits, head to our Residency section.

Member comments

  1. Is it standard to have a criminal record check as part of your application – we are going as inactiv not working? I’ve not seen that anywhere else when researching.

  2. I am a British Citizen and have a French carte de sejour, do the 90 day restrictions limit my visits to other European countries

    1. The article at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_Schengen_Area is a useful source
      of links to visa policy in specific situations.

      Holders of a long-stay visa or residence permit issued by a Schengen state or Monaco may also travel to other Schengen states, without an additional visa, for a stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

      My own inerpretation of this is that Frances should be able to stay without limit in France but will
      need to restrict time in *other* Schengen states to comply with 90/180 rule.

      However this poses the question of how to demonstrate such compliance – given that there will be
      no record of her passage to/from such other states if from/to France.

      Any informed comment on the latter point would be appreciated.

      To give an example:
      A UK national with WA rights in Spain drives there via France. The passport is stamped
      as entered at Calais and the driver reaches Spain two days later. Eight months later the
      same person drives back to UK having reained all that time in Spain. On exit at Calais,
      the systems report an “over-stay” as *apparently* the 90/180 rule has been breached.

      What does such person need to do to refute over-stay charge?
      It is quite *possible* that several months have been spent in France – although it is
      more likely that the time was spent in Spain.
      Is a personal declaration sufficient? If not, what evidence is needed?

  3. when applying for a long stay visa for France ( intention to retire to our 2nd home) what type of health insurance is needed and is it correct that its only needed for the 3 months after entry because one can enter the PUMA system?
    Thanks in advance for help
    Helen

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For members

EES PASSPORT CHECKS

How will the new app for Europe’s EES border system work?

With Europe set to introduce its new Entry/Exit biometric border system (EES) in the autumn there has been much talk about the importance of a new app designed to help avoid delays. But how will it work and when will it be ready?

Published: 7 May 2024 10:29 CEST
How will the new app for Europe's EES border system work?

When it comes into force the EU’s new digital border system known as EES will register the millions of annual entries and exits of non-EU citizens travelling to the EU/Schengen area, which will cover 29 European countries.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), non-EU residents who do not require a visa will have to register their biometric data in a database that will also capture each time they cross an external Schengen border.

Passports will no longer be manually stamped, but will be scanned. However, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard when the non-EU traveller first crosses in to the EU/Schengen area.

Naturally there are concerns the extra time needed for this initial registration will cause long queues and tailbacks at the border.

To help alleviate those likely queues and prevent the subsequent frustration felt by travellers the EU is developing a new smartphone app.

READ ALSO: What will the EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The importance of having a working app was summed up by Uku Särekanno, Deputy Executive Director of the EU border agency Frontex in a recent interview.

“Initially, the challenge with the EES will come down to the fact that travellers arriving in Europe will have to have their biographic and biometric data registered in the system – border guards will have to register four of their fingerprints and their facial image. This process will take time, and every second really matters at border crossing points – nobody wants to be stuck in a lengthy queue after a long trip.”

But there is confusion around what the app will actually be able to do, if it will help avoid delays and importantly when will it be available?

So here’s what we know so far.

Who is developing the app?

The EU border agency Frontex is currently developing the app. More precisely, Frontex is developing the back-end part of the app, which will be made available to Schengen countries.

“Frontex is currently developing a prototype of an app that will help speed up this process and allow travellers to share some of the information in advance. This is something we are working on to support the member states, although there is no legal requirement for us to do so,” Uku Särekanno said in the interview.

Will the 29 EES countries be forced to use the app?

No, it is understood that Frontex will make the app available on a voluntary basis. Each government will then decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs.

This point emerged at a meeting of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, which is carrying out an inquiry on how EES will impact the UK.

What data will be registered via the app?

The Local asked the European Commission about this. A spokesperson however, said the Commission was not “in a position to disclose further information at this stage” but that travellers’ personal data “will be processed in compliance with the high data security and data protection standards set by EU legislation.”

According to the blog by Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP the Frontex app will collect passengers’ name, date of birth, passport number, planned destination and length of stay, reason for travelling, the amount of cash they carry, the availability of a credit card and of a travel health insurance. The app could also allow to take facial images. It will then generate a QR code that travellers can present at border control.

This, however, does not change the fact that fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing into the Schengen area.

So given the need to register finger prints and facial images with a border guard, the question is how and if the app will help avoid those border queues?

When is the app going to be available?

The answer to perhaps the most important question is still unclear.

The Commissions spokesperson told The Local that the app “will be made available for Schengen countries as from the Entry/Exit System start of operations.” The planned launch date is currently October 6th, but there have been several delays in the past and may be another one.

The UK parliamentary committee heard that the prototype of the app should have been ready for EU member states in spring. Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, said the app will not be available for testing until August “at best” and that the app will not be ready in time for October. The committee previously stated that the app might even be delayed until summer 2025.

Frontex’s Särekanno said in his interview: “Our aim is to have it ready by the end of the summer, so it can then be gradually integrated into national systems starting from early autumn”.

READ ALSO: How do the EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Can the system be launched if the app is not ready?

Yes. The European Commission told The Local that “the availability of the mobile application is not a condition for the Entry/Exit System entry into operation or functioning of the system. The app is only a tool for pre-registration of certain types of data and the system can operate without this pre-registration.”

In addition, “the integration of this app at national level is to be decided by each Schengen country on a voluntary basis – as there is no legal obligation to make use of the app.”

And the UK’s transport under secretary Guy Opperman sounded a note of caution saying the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

When the app will be in use, will it be mandatory for travellers?

There is no indication that the app will become mandatory for those non-EU travellers who need to register for EES. But there will probably be advantages in using it, such as getting access to faster lanes.

As a reminder, non-EU citizens who are resident in the EU are excluded from the EES, as are those with dual nationality for a country using EES. Irish nationals are also exempt even though Ireland will not be using EES because it is not in the Schengen area.

Has the app been tested anywhere yet?

Frontex says the prototype of the app will be tested at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, in Sweden. Matthias Monroy’s website said it was tested last year at Munich Airport in Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and Gibraltar.

According to the German Federal Police, the blog reports, passengers were satisfied and felt “prepared for border control”.

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