France – contingency measures

France has identified 152,000 UK nationals as residents in French territory.

The milestone dates shown in the table apply.

Citoyen Union européenne

Under the withdrawal deal, the same conditions would apply in France as in the past:

• recognition of a permanent right of residence: five-year continuous residency in France.
• residency permit: same criteria as for current EU nationals, valid up to five years.

In France citoyen Union européenne residency permits will be valid until the end of the year 2020. In the case of a deal, a new residency will be issued; under no-deal, UK citizens have six months following Brexit to lodge a residency application.

Carte de resident

But to anticipate a no-deal Brexit, France has issued several legislative and regulatory measures. The Ordinance of 6 February 2019 governs the rights of UK citizens in France, including:

• after five years’ continuous residence in France, UK nationals will receive a 10-year residence card (carte de resident) for themselves and their dependents. This carte de resident will also replace the UK nationals’ current carte de resident permanent.
• less than five years’ residence in France: common-law residency permit depending on the situation of the applicants, but multi-year validity immediately and under a simplified process and documentation.
• no long-term visa entry and no CIR requirements (integration scheme) will be required from UK nationals.

A specific reception system is being developed to handle future requests. An online approach to ease the process is possible, along with just one single passage at Prefectures.