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FIND HELP
Since September 2020, the Diocese in Europe French Residency Support Project has been helping at-risk UK nationals and their family members apply for residency under the Withdrawal Agreement.
The deadline for applying for your Withdrawal Agreement Residence Permit (WARP), known in French as a “carte/titre de séjour « accord de retrait du Royaume-Uni de l’Union Européenne »”, was 30 June 2021. French authorities however continued to accept late applications on the website they had specifically opened for this process until 4 October 2021. Now that this website is closed, the project support services and helpline will begin to wind-down and close in November. From October 15, our caseworkers will no longer be able to take new enquiries but if we are already helping you, we will continue to do so until early December.
You must be in possession of your WARP before 1 January 2022. This date has been extended by the French authorities (from 1 October 2021) and you can access the decree explaining your rights here.
The British Embassy has provided this Informative Note in French, which you can download here in PDF which may be useful if you are asked for your residency permit before the new 1 January 2022 deadline.
From 4 October 2021, you can still apply at your local prefecture if you have reasonable grounds for missing the deadline and you will need to provide evidence of this. Your close family members continue to be able to join you and settle in France at any point in the future.
Please find below some information that may relate to your situation.
FAQs & RESOURCES
I was a legal resident in France before 1 January 2021 but did not apply for a Withdrawal Agreement residence permit
In France, the initial deadline to apply for a residence permit in line with the Withdrawal Agreement was 30 June 2021. Late applicants were able to submit a residency application until 4 October 2021. The online portal specifically open for this process is now closed. If you have missed the deadline, please contact your local prefecture to see how to regularise your situation.
I have a residence permit for France but I am unsure if this is the correct one.
UK nationals who were legally residing in France before 1 January 2021 and wanting to stay in France were to apply for a Withdrawal Agreement residence permit. This “titre de séjour” should have, at the back, the mention “Article 18 (1) Accord de retrait du Royaume-Uni de l’UE“. You can find a specimen here: https://www.frenchresidencysupport.org/post/the-withdrawal-agreement-residence-permit
If you have another type of residence permit, for example one with the mention “carte de séjour pour citoyen UE/EEE/Suisse”, you probably needed to ask for an exchange. In that case, please contact your local prefecture to regularize your situation.
I have applied for my Withdrawal Agreement residence permit but I am still waiting for my appointment at the prefecture.
If you have applied for a WARP but have not yet received it, you must keep your certificate of application (from your initial email confirmation) and continue the process.
If you have not had a response to your WARP application, check your email and spam folder, and contact your prefecture. You should also email the Interior Ministry: [email protected]. Respond promptly to requests, to help prefectures process your application quickly.
You can find a link to your prefecture email here:
I had my appointment at the prefecture but have not received my WARP yet.
After your appointment at the prefecture, it usually takes between three to eight weeks for the residence permit to be delivered to you, normally by registered post. If you have been waiting for more than two months it might be that your residence permit could not be delivered by post and was returned to the prefecture. Please contact your local prefecture to enquire about your residence card.
Alternatively email the Interior Ministry: [email protected].
As a last course of action, contact the Défenseur des Droits:
Saisir en ligne le Défenseur des droits (Service en ligne) | service-public.fr
I have an appointment at the prefecture but am unable to attend due to serious mobility issues.
You must make every effort to attend the prefecture appointment you are invited to. If you are really unable to attend the appointment at the prefecture, due to serious mobility issues that can be attested by a medical certificate, please inform the prefecture right away so that they can give your appointment to someone else, and ask them what solution may be found. Some prefectures accept, if you are able to show a medical certificate, that someone attends the appointment in your place if they come with:
- Medical certificate
- Procuration letter
- ID of both the applicant and the person attending in their place
- The email convocation/appointment
Please contact your local prefecture to see what they may accept.
I was a legal resident in France before 1 January 2021 and some family members want to join me in France.
Your close family members continue to be able to join you and settle in France at any point in the future. This applies to spouses, registered partners or durable partners, dependent children and grandchildren, and dependent parents and grandparents, including those of your spouse or registered partner. Your relationship with them must have begun by 31 December 2020.
If you have, or if you legally adopt, children in the future, and you have custody of them, your children will have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.
Family members must travel to France and then submit a WARP application to the local prefecture, as your family member. For Nationals of certain non-EU countries a short-stay visa application is required to travel to France. To find out if this is the case for you, you can test your requirements here: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/ai-je-besoin-d-un-visa
My application for a Withdrawal Agreement residence permit has not been accepted, what can I do?
The assessment of your residency application by the French authorities may result in different forms of unsuccessful outcomes:
- If you receive an email from your prefecture stating that your application has been closed (“classée sans suite”), it may be that you did not reply in time to a request from the prefecture or that you have missed your biometric appointment. This may not mean that your application has been refused and you should contact your prefecture for further information, to see if they may reopen your file or if you may make a new application.
- If you receive an email from your prefecture stating that they could not provide a favourable outcome to your application (“Les éléments que vous nous avez communiqués ne nous ont pas permis de donner une suite favorable à votre demande”), you should contact your prefecture for further information.
- A formal refusal of your residency application should normally consist of a legal decision (“arrêté”) from the prefecture and be received by registered post. The decision should clearly state the reasons for the refusal and the accompanying letter should contain information about the available appeal process. If you have received such formal refusal of your residency application you may wish to contact a lawyer without delay. You can find information on how to appeal a residency decision here (in French): https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F31969
I need further information or support.
If you have not found an answer to your situation, you may want to contact a local association. There is a list of French support associations in this news article.
If you need a lawyer, you may find the UK government’s list of English-speaking lawyers in France useful: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/france-list-of-lawyers
I want to come to France but I was not a resident before 1 January 2021
UK nationals who are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement can travel to countries in the Schengen area, which France is part of, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. This applies if you travel as a tourist, to visit family or friends, to attend business meetings, cultural or sports events, or for short-term studies or training. Find more information here: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/
If you are travelling to France and other Schengen countries without a visa, make sure your whole visit is within the 90-day limit. Visits to Schengen countries within the previous 180 days before you travel count towards your 90 days.
To stay longer, to work or study, for business travel or for other reasons, you will need to meet the French government’s entry requirements. To see what your individual entry requirement might be, you should visit the France Visas website: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/
If you stay in France with a residence permit or long-stay visa, this does not count towards your 90‑day visa-free limit.
I am living in France and have an issue not related to residency.
For general information, please visit the UK government’s Living in France webpage: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-france
If your question is related to healthcare in France, please visit CPAM English webpage: https://www.ameli.fr/morbihan/assure/english-pages
You may also find the following videos, produced by the British Embassy in Paris, useful:
Healthcare in France: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=827706777967650
Healthcare in France – S1 Form: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2813712062180071
If you need to contact the NHS about an S1 form or perhaps an EHIC or GHIC:
NHS Overseas Healthcare Services
Telephone: +44 (0)191 218 1999
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Saturday, 9am to 3pm
If you need administrative support and/or IT support, notably to exchange a driving license in France, or to fill in a tax form, you can reach out to France Services, which has offices throughout France providing support for daily administrative procedures. You can look for the closest office to you here: https://www.cohesion-territoires.gouv.fr/france-services.
Also refer to this article for referrals to a range of support services in France.